


Ghost Boy

by water_lili_es



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Ghosts, High School, M/M, Running Away, Slow Burn, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:27:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 65,790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24697561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/water_lili_es/pseuds/water_lili_es
Summary: A shiver ran down his spine at the recollection of what he expected to see in the dark of the locker room. Even the visual imagery of his wild imagination was enough to make the hairs on Donghyuck’s arms stand. But even with an imagination as wild as his, reality couldn’t compare to what he found in place of a big, scary ghost.He was expecting to meet a ghost in the dead of the night. He was expecting to be scared out of his wits when he comes face-to-face with bloodshot eyes and pale skin that screamed ‘unjust death’. He didn’t expect the ghost to have eyes as dark as the night outside the school and a cute button-nose, but he was taking what he was being given.
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee
Comments: 23
Kudos: 181





	1. Chapter 1

Donghyuck frantically hopped down the steps of his home, holding on to the railing of the staircase so that he won’t slip and end up rolling down the stairs. His hair was still damp and only combed through by his fingers and he had an inkling that he wore his right shoe wrongly, making a quick mental note of fixing that as soon as he can, but not right now.

He was going to be late for class if he stayed at his house for a minute longer. He didn’t even realize that he took too long in the shower, once again drowning out the world with the music he had playing through his phone as he sung his heart out despite the early morning hour.

“Donghyuck, breakfast!” his mother called from the kitchen. Donghyuck caught a whiff of bacon and knew that if he paused for a second too long his mouth would start watering and his feet would bring him to the kitchen to join his parents and sister.

“Can’t! I’m late!” Donghyuck yelled as he dashed out onto the front yard, fumbling inside his jacket pocket for his car keys.

No matter how late he is, though, doesn’t matter when it comes to picking the perfect playlist for his ride to school. After a minute sitting inside his car and scrolling through his phone for a playlist he wanted to listen to whilst he drove, he turns the key and starts the car.

The drive is silent save for the music playing considerably loudly and his occasional singing to the lyrics of the songs. He goes through a list in his mind, mentally double checking the contents of his bag that was placed on the seat next to him and trying to recall homework due for the day in case he missed any, not that he would find any willpower to do them at all. Forgotten homework was forgotten for a reason.

When he gets to school, he heaves a sigh of relief to see that he had ten minutes left before classes would start. He hops off his car, falling into a stroll inside the school instead of his initial plan to sprint to his classroom.

“Oh, sorry.” Donghyuck apologizes, as a reflex, when he bumps into someone as he turned the corner. As soon as the words leave his mouth, Donghyuck catches a whiff of caffeine, and the scent itself is enough to warm Donghyuck’s empty stomache, paired with the subtle aroma of peppermint that the person he bumped into carried.

He meets eyes with Mark Lee, who had a large coffee in one hand and an open notebook in the other. He was wearing his usual beanie, black for today, and was wearing a grey hoodie that made him look small. The older boy barely sends him a curt nod before walking away, eyes still focused on his notes as he sipped on his hot drink. Donghyuck stayed in his place as his eyes followed the retreating Mark. He pursed his lips to the side, brushing away the lack of response as a result of the early morning. He shrugged and continued to make his way to his first period classroom.

When Donghyuck enters the classroom, he’s greeted by a bubbly Chenle who had a pack of gummy bears in his hand. The boy is his usual bubbly and cheery, but Donghyuck caught sight of the treat in the boy’s fingers and doesn’t stop the frown making its way to his features.

“Hyuck! You’re here!” Chenle beamed as he used his free hand to cling to Donghyuck.

With a blank expression, he turns away from Chenle and goes to look at the seat next to Chenle’s seeing Jisung shrugging in faux innocence at the look Donghyuck was giving him. He shakes his head, tired of scolding Jisung for supplying an already naturally hyper Chenle with sugars and sweets.

“Good morning, Chenle.” Donghyuck greets the boy when he was sure that Jisung wasn’t going to utter any words.

“Good morning!” Chenle smiled as he laughed. Donghyuck could practically feel the sugar pumping through Chenle’s veins, and it made his own stomache churn at the thought of sweets first thing in the morning.

He wordlessly pats Chenle’s head before slipping the boy’s hand from his arm and goes to sit behind Jisung. He folds his arms on top of his desk and buries his head in the middle of his folded arms. He felt Chenle jumping around his seat, only stopping when Jisung took the boy by the arm and guided him to the chair next to him and taking the pack of gummy bears from his hands. Donghyuck laughed to himself when he heard Chenle’s whining.

“Jisung, give them back!” Donghyuck knows that Chenle was pouting. “You gave them to me.”

“I’ll give them back later, okay? Drink some water first.”

“Okay.”

Donghyuck hears some sounds that suggest Jisung taking out a bottle of water from his bag and handing it to Chenle. He turned his head in his arms, stifling a yawn that threatened to escape from his closed lips.

The bell rings and Donghyuck raises his head from his arms. He sees Chenle downing a bottle of water as their teacher walks inside, ready to start the day’s lesson. Donghyuck stifles a groan, wanting to go back home and sleep for another hour or two.

* * *

When lunch rolls around, Donghyuck is yawning between spoonfuls of rice and meat. He didn’t know why he was so sleepy; he didn’t sleep later than he usually did, didn’t wake earlier than he had to. He was even under cold water longer than usual.

His eyes comb over the cafeteria, and his lips tug a modicum upwards when he sees a table not too far from them, the boys seated on it rowdy and noisy. Mark was like that, he supposed. He was friends with people of personality, whose voices could fill the entire cafeteria with their volume and weren’t afraid to start food fights if they wanted to, yet he was always just there. He’d laugh at their stories and tell his own, but he’d always sit at the corner and read a book for hours. It was like he was in their world but in his own world at the same time.

That might as well be the only thing that Donghyuck knew about Mark; aside from the fact that he’s never seen without wearing a beanie. The boy kept pretty much to himself, save for his close friends. He and Donghyuck barely interacted outside of class, too, and even then, their interactions were limited. They simply weren’t friends.

He supposed he can blame his drowsiness on Mark, who was seated on the corner of the table, quietly reading a novel as he chewed on his sandwich, acting as if he was separated from the table he was seated on. His mind wandered back to the large coffee that the conservative boy was holding earlier in the morning, and that was when Donghyuck remembered that he had no caffeine in his system at all.

He sighed and went back to picking at his rice with his chopsticks. He really needed a coffee fill. He stuffs his mouth with a spoonful of rice before standing, bringing an arguing Renjun and Jaemin’s eyes to him, as well as a chatting Jeno, Chenle, and Jisung’s.

“I’m gonna go for a coffee.” Donghyuck declared as he swallowed his rice and walked away from the table, making his way to one of the vending machines situated by the doors of the cafeteria. He pulls out the loose change in his pocket, mentally hoping that his coins were enough and that he won’t have to open his wallet to pull out a bill.

A boy walks past him, stopping in front of him and sliding a bill inside the vending machine. Donghyuck was too busy counting his change to notice who it was, but when he does lift his head, internally proud of himself for having enough change, he sees Mark bent down in front of the vending machine, taking out two cans of chilled coffee.

He looks at Donghyuck once he’s standing upright. He moves one of the cans to his other hand and reaches towards Donghyuck, wordlessly stretching it towards Donghyuck with a small yet kind smile.

Mark sees the twitch in Donghyuck’s brow, so he chuckles and shakes the can, not enough for it to explode when it was opened, but enough for Donghyuck to take the hint and raise his hand to take the canned coffee in his palm.

“My bill was too big and I didn’t want too much change.” Mark explained as he slid his now free hand inside the coin return slot and took out two coins. He looks at Donghyuck after, a small glimmer of uncertainty in his chocolate eyes as he slipped the coins inside his back pocket. “Or did you want a soda instead?”

“No,” Donghyuck answered, suddenly realizing that he lost his voice for a span of a couple of minutes. If he wasn’t in the middle of a sentence, his jaw would have opened at the shock of being at a loss for words. “this is what I wanted, actually.”

He held the can properly, glancing down and confirming that Mark got the exact brand and flavour that he wanted. He smiled to himself, noting that he and Mark had the same preference. He looked back at Mark and gave him a grateful smile. “I’ll pay you back.”

Mark lifted his hand after opening his can, shaking his head as he eyed Donghyuck’s hand that had coins held in the palm. He chuckled, repeating his earlier words as kindly as he spoke earlier, “I don’t want change. It’s fine, really.”

“Oh.” Donghyuck blinked; embarrassed that he let that sentence fly out the first time. “Thanks, then, Mark.”

“I’ll see you in class.” Mark said, and they were suddenly doused in a cold sense of awkwardness that they weren’t close enough to keep a conversation going. Donghyuck nodded curtly, more specific than the nod Mark threw him earlier, and the boy walked away from him. Donghyuck stays in his spot for three beats, watching as Mark walked, adjusting his beanie with one hand and the other tipping the can so that he could take a sip of the cold coffee.

Once he’s caught himself staring, Donghyuck tears his eyes away from the retreating boy and down at the can in his hand, lifting his free hand to open it before taking a sip and walking away from the vending machine.

Donghyuck sits back down next to Renjun, setting the opened can of coffee next to his plate after a hearty sip and listening in to their conversation in an attempt of joining in. He noted that Jaemin and Renjun have finally finished arguing, and that Jaemin’s attention was now on Jeno, who was seated next to him and across Renjun. Jaemin was seated across Donghyuck, eyeing the can of coffee and obviously looking for an opening on when he can steal a sip.

Donghyuck made sure to make a noise as he stabbed his metal chopsticks into his tray and Jaemin raises his head like a deer caught in headlights. Donghyuck narrows his eyes at Jaemin before smiling and turning to the other four.

“What are we talking about?” he asked them before stuffing his mouth with food.

“Renjun was telling us about a new ghost story he heard in class this morning.” Chenle’s voice was bright and cheery despite the subject of his sentence, and Jisung snorted as he sipped on his juice, raising an eyebrow at Chenle from across the table.

Jeno rolls his eyes. “Some dumb things students made up a few weeks ago, maybe.”

“What dumb things?” Donghyuck turned to Renjun. He wasn’t as devoted an advocate as Renjun is when it comes to things that go bump in the night, but he appreciated a good horror story more than anyone else on the table, especially if their beloved school was involved.

Renjun smirks at him, waving his spoon in front of Donghyuck’s nose before setting it down on his tray and re-telling his story. “People are saying that there’s a ghost in the boy’s locker room. Apparently, the benches are moved in the morning, and that the showers smell freshly used before first period, stuff like that. Some people are also saying that the ghost roams the halls, going in and out of the classrooms and messing with stuff there.”

“Why the classrooms, too?” Donghyuck asked as he sipped on his coffee. He dismissed the part about the showers, but not before remembering a few weeks ago when he noted that the shower room smelled faintly of peppermint despite their class being the first of the day.

Renjun shrugged. “Because we can’t possibly think that the teachers and janitors erase the boards by their own will, and have you noticed that since a couple of weeks ago that the classrooms are tidier than normal?”

Donghyuck shrugged as well, not putting any effort in recalling any changes in their classrooms. “Maybe. I don’t pay attention much.”

Jisung snorted. “Please don’t tell me that you believe this, Donghyuck. A ghost that cleans classrooms and rearranges the benches in the locker room. Really?”

“Hey, we never know.” Donghyuck mused.

Jaemin laughed. “Well, let’s keep it that way. Is there a way I can skip PE for, like, the rest of the year?”

Jeno laughed as he patted Jaemin’s head in a careful pet. “No can do, babe.”

Jaemin whined, obviously not looking forward to going inside the boys’ locker room anytime soon. “But Renjun said there are ghosts there.”

“Ghosts don’t rearrange furniture, Jaemin.” Jisung deadpanned.

“They don’t erase writings on the board, either, but that’s the kind of ghost we got.” Jaemin barbed with a half-hearted scowl. Everyone in the table knew that Jaemin was the most to get shaken out of them despite his insistence that he was as dark and broody as Renjun was.

Chenle laughed from next to Renjun. “I like our ghost, I want to meet it.”

Donghyuck chuckled, shaking his head and going back to his meal. He may not believe Renjun’s story as much as he wanted to, but he was sure that something was happening in school at night. It may not be a ghost, but it was something that piqued Donghyuck’s interest.

He tipped his coffee can to take a sip, the gears in his mind turning as he formulated a rudimentary scheme of getting behind the scenes on the school’s ghost boy and abate his curiosity.

* * *

“Where are you going?”

Donghyuck freezes on the spot, hand hovering above the doorknob of the house’s front door when a phone’s flashlight catches him in the act of sneaking out of his house. Donghyuck shuts his eyes in a silent curse before opening them again and turning to the sound of the voice.

He sees his younger sister standing at the foot of the stairs, her phone angled at him so that the light from her phone revealed him in a black hoodie and jeans but not tilted high enough to blind him with the harsh shine of the light.

She stepped out of her room for a glass of water, but any dryness in her throat was pushed away when she walked down the stairs to see her brother trying to sneak out hours after his 9 pm announcement that he was heading to bed to sleep.

“Uhh... out?” Donghyuck answered with a crack of his voice, sounding like a question instead of a reply. He almost winced at the half-baked reply but stopped himself before he could.

Yeonhyuck raises a disbelieving brow, not that Donghyuck was expecting to be let off the hook immediately. “Uh-huh...”

“Don’t tell mom and dad?” he tried again, reaching behind him to curl his fingers on the doorknob.

Yeonhyuck doesn’t answer him. She keeps her brow raised as she studied his appearance. Donghyuck left dinner wearing an oversized shirt and boxers. But now he wasn’t in his normal sleep attire and looked as if he was looking to rob the house next door.

She presses her lips into a straight line, checking her phone for the time. When she sees that it was barely past 11 at night, she turns back to her brother, speaking monotonously, “Be back before morning. And I want cupcakes.”

Donghyuck doesn’t get to answer because she turns around and trudges back up the stairs. He waits until he hears the soft click of her bedroom door before he celebrates his half-won victory and opens the front door. He steps out of the house and sprints to his car, hopping inside and starting it.

As he pulls out of the driveway, he’s mumbling names of bakeshops near school that are still opened, deciding to stop for cupcakes before going to school. He drives to a small bakeshop and parks outside, stepping out of his car and walking inside the empty bakeshop.

When he steps inside, he’s overwhelmed by the smell of pastries and baked goods, and suddenly craves for cupcakes of his own. He gets a box of six red velvet cupcakes for his sister, then another box of six for himself, this time strawberry cream.

“Thank you, have a good night!” Donghyuck smiled at the girl at the counter before he exited the bakeshop.

He sets the boxes on the seat next to him and starts his drive to school. He left the window of his last class open by two inches. Not enough to be noticed if you weren’t looking for it. Donghyuck hoped that the ghost didn’t notice Donghyuck’s trick and close the window, or else he would have gone out for nothing.

He cheers silently to himself when he walks to the side of the school where he knew the classroom was and sees the window still opened. He smiled as he pulled it up high enough for him to pass over the ledge and go inside. He shivers when he’s half inside, the dark of the classroom only giving Donghyuck a teaser of how ominous the school can be in the late hours of the night and no one around. He throws his other leg over the ledge and closes the window, the quiet click of the glass echoing through the empty room.

“The locker rooms, Renjun said.” Donghyuck said to himself as he took out the flashlight he stashed in his hoodie and opened it. He didn’t want to open any lights in case the school had some weird alarms that notified the principal or the police of trespassers or something of the sort, if things like that were even possible.

“Anything is possible.” Donghyuck mumbled as he walked through the empty hallway. Every step he took left a reverberation against the tiled floors and the sound almost made Donghyuck think that someone was following him.

He shivered at the thought, the back of his mind nagging at him to turn around and go back to his car and enjoy delicious strawberry cream cupcakes before heading home and giving his sister her red velvet cupcakes.

But Donghyuck was as stubborn as his curiosity. He was already in school, steps away from the boys’ locker room, and he wasn’t going to back down now. He would live to tell the story of tonight to Renjun and the others and be able to brag about his midnight escapades and sit through Jeno’s scoldings of being irresponsible and Renjun’s complaints about not being able to come with him.

Yes, Donghyuck was going to live to see the light of tomorrow.

His eyesight has already adjusted to his dark surroundings but Donghyuck still held the flashlight tightly as if it was the only thing keeping him from crossing paths with the supernatural spirit that was rumoured to be roaming the halls of the school. Donghyuck could feel the slight tremor in his breaths as his inhales and exhales grew shallow.

He reaches the door of the boys’ locker room and stands outside of it. He takes a deep breath, collecting every ounce of courage his body can offer him before pushing it open, slowly and hesitantly.

When he steps inside, he sees the rearrangement of the furniture. The wooden backless benches that were scattered in the middle of the lockers were pushed together in the middle of the room, looking like a large table. Other than that, no other changes were made to the room, and Donghyuck wondered how this was big enough to cause a stir in the student body, though it _was_ concerning that the benches were moved.

He walks inside and scans the empty locker room. He reaches the wooden benches and sits down on the edge of the group. His brows are still furrowed as he forced to put a puzzle together despite knowing fully well that some pieces were still missing.

“Maybe the janitors push them together or something.” he concluded as he stood up, waving the flashlight around the locker room to check if he missed any changes.

When his sight trails back to in front of him, where the door was, his jaw drops and his eyes widens, the flashlight dropping to the floor next to his feet as he meets eyes with a boy that was chalk white, staring at him as he stood next to the door. Donghyuck’s knees buckle and he falls back down to sit on the benches, and the scream he wanted to yell out is dissolved into a pathetic squeak when the boy takes a hurried step closer to him.

“Shh! Shh!” the boy blustered as he knelt down in front of Donghyuck and took the discarded flashlight into his hand. “Don’t scream. Donghyuck, it’s just me.”

“Who the fuck is _me_?” despite his obvious fear, Donghyuck’s snarky replies still made an appearance as he pulled his feet off the floor and inched farther into the middle of the benches.

“It’s Mark.” the boy chuckled as he pointed the flashlight to himself. He was still knelt on the ground, moving hesitantly in case Donghyuck decided he wanted to scream or kick at him.

Donghyuck’s eyes wash away its fear to make way for the recognition and confusion that take over.

“Mark?” he repeated and the boy nodded, sighing in relief that he was recognized. Donghyuck’s brows furrowed again as he took in the boy’s appearance. “What are you doing here? And _why_ are you covered in chalk?”

Donghyuck registered that the boy was chalk white because his face, arms, and neck were covered in the white powder. His clothes weren’t any better. It was a ridiculous amount of chalk that was smeared all over his body and on any other situation, Donghyuck would be impressed that Mark wasn’t coughing his lungs out from all the dust he was under.

Mark let out another chuckle as he handed Donghyuck the flashlight. Donghyuck reaches for it and hugs it between his folded legs, watching Mark curiously as he sat down in front of Donghyuck. Donghyuck didn’t know what he was expecting when he sneaked inside school tonight, but seeing Mark Lee covered head-to-toe in chalk dust certainly was nowhere near the list of probabilities.

“I was erasing the writings on the board.” Mark answered easily as he smiled kindly at Donghyuck. Donghyuck was almost offended at how sincere his words were, telling Donghyuck that Mark really had been doing that out of his own good will and boredom.

“Oh.” Donghyuck said as he pointed his flashlight at Mark. The boy squinted against the light but didn’t make a move to lean away from it. Donghyuck noted that Mark had hair as dark as the chalk on his face was white, and that it was the first time that he saw the boy without wearing a beanie. He didn’t know that Mark’s hair was that thick and he wondered if the strands would be able to reach his eyes if he straightened it from how mussed it was from wearing a beanie all day.

As much as he wanted to remark on the realization, he shook the urge away and repeated his first question. “What are you doing here? Surely not just to clean boards.”

Mark’s kind smile turned sheepish as he turned away from Donghyuck and ruffled his hair. He reached into a bag that was under the bench and took out a red beanie. He pulled it over his head.

“I, uhh...” he trailed off.

The puzzle pieces Donghyuck was forcing together turned so that they fit perfectly together. The makeshift table— bed—, the showers, the fact that Mark had two big bags under the benches with what looked like clothes inside of them.

“You’re living here.” Donghyuck didn’t ask. He watched as Mark’s expression shifted from sheepish to guilty before nodding with a defeated sigh. his brows stayed furrowed, but instead of in fear or in confusion, they were curled together in concern. “How long?”

Mark shrugged and leaned backwards to prop himself on his hands. “It’s been a little over a month, maybe. I had a nasty fight with my parents and I ran out on them. Haven’t went back home since.”

“Oh.” Donghyuck didn’t know what to say. All his disagreements with his parents weren’t enough to even merit him wanting to slam the door to his room, but now he was sitting in front of Mark, who had run away from home because of a fight that happened over a month ago.

“Don’t tell anyone?” Mark looked at Donghyuck with pleading eyes. Donghyuck was taken aback. He was so used to seeing Mark disconnected from the world, head in the clouds or nose in a book, that he was taken aback to see his big doe eyes practically begging him not to say a word to anyone.

“I won’t.” Donghyuck said truthfully. All thoughts of sharing the story of his midnight escapades have gone out the window.

Mark smiled. “Thank you.”

It’s silent after that, and once again the two of them are doused in the cold awkwardness that acquaintances had. Mark knew that Donghyuck still had a handful of questions for him, and he was thankful that the boy was watching his tongue, at least until they were both comfortable enough for a round of 20 questions.

Donghyuck watched as Mark swiped his palm over his cheek, rubbing at the chalk. Mark looked at him. “What are you doing here, by the way? It’s almost midnight.”

“I, uhh...” Donghyuck didn’t want to tell Mark that he was out ghost hunting only to find him living in the school and sleeping in the boys’ locker room. He bit on his lower lip, trying to form a sentence that didn’t make it sound like he was an amateur ghost hunter that got a kick out of exploring allegedly haunted places.

“My sister wanted cupcakes.” he says instead, finding it in himself to let out a sound that met between a snort and a laugh when Mark’s curious expression turned into one of confusion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello!!! I hope you enjoy this story hhhh *^^* it's only going to be a few chapters long (hopefully) find me on my [twitter](https://twitter.com/markeu_tuan93) or [curious cat](https://curiouscat.qa/water_lili_es) if you have any comments hhhh :>> thank you for reading! I hope you enjoy~!


	2. Chapter 2

Donghyuck passes through the classroom window the second time that night— morning, maybe, seeing that it was a few minutes past midnight— this time, with a box of strawberry cream cupcakes cradled in his arms. His navigation in the dark is easier now that the potential threat of a ghost boy is out of the way, and Donghyuck knew that his feet were leading him to a chalk-covered Mark Lee who ran away from home an hour ago and has been living in school since then.

"Mark?" Donghyuck called as he entered the locker room, brows furrowed when he sees no sign of the boy.  
  
Donghyuck's blood starts to run cold when he starts to think that maybe the ghost just took the image of Mark, and that Mark was at home, curled up in his bed, asleep, unaware that his image was being used to coax Donghyuck to trust the ghost boy that haunted the boys' locker room.

Maybe the ghost boy saw him and Mark this morning when they bumped into each other in the halls, or maybe during lunch when Mark gave him a can of iced coffee. Maybe that's why the ghost decided to trick Donghyuck by using Mark's image.

A pair of hands rest on Donghyuck's back, making him jump, skipping half a step forward as he turned to face the owner of the hands. His scream was cut short at the realization that the hands were heart-rendingly warm instead of blood-curdlingly cold, and Donghyuck sighed in relief when he was face-to-face with Mark Lee, in fresh clothes and clean from chalk dust thanks to the quick shower he was from, a towel limp on his hair in a languid attempt of towel drying it. A whiff of peppermint lingered around Mark’s person with no other scent interfering with it, so Donghyuck deduced that Mark used a peppermint scent for both his hair and body.

"Stop scaring me." Donghyuck meant to sound annoyed, or stable, at least, and a pout formed on his lips when he heard the small tremor in his voice, hoping that Mark didn't catch it.

Mark frowned when he saw the look on Donghyuck's face. He carefully takes the box of cupcakes from Donghyuck and places it on the bench before sitting down and patting the spot next to him for Donghyuck to occupy.

"I'm sorry." Mark's voice was soft and nothing short of apologetic. Donghyuck sighed, wondering why all traces of possible resentment was gone just with a small frown from Mark.

He sat next to Mark and shrugged. "It's fine. It's just creepy here at night and with no one around."

"You get used to it." Mark answered lowly. He was back to passing the towel through his hair. "I wasn't as scared as you were, but I was jumpy for the first few days but more out of fear of getting caught."

Two thoughts passed through Donghyuck's mind as he listened to Mark speak and watched Mark dry his hair. The first one was that Mark must have it really rough at home for him to endure spending nights in a creepy school all alone and with benches pushed together as a bed. He wanted to ask what brought Mark to leave home, but he knew that he wasn't close enough to ask him despite the fact that he caught him tonight. He didn't want to invade Mark's privacy, especially if he was sleeping at school. That only meant that his friends didn't know, so what was Donghyuck to Mark for him to tell him? The second thought was that Mark's hair reached his eyes now that they were limp enough to drop to their full length and weren't disarrayed because of a beanie. Donghyuck thought that Mark constantly covering his face with a beanie was both a blessing and a sin; his dark hair made him look like a puppy, and Donghyuck thought that the sight wasn't supposed to be kept away from the world, but his heart warmed at the thought that he may be one of Mark's chosen few that got to see how much he resembled an adorable canine.

He almost snorted. _Chosen few, yeah right._

_Donghyuck glanced at the box of cupcakes on the bench, mildly surprised that the box didn’t look at all like Donghyuck was clutching it for dear life minutes ago._

_“Do you want some?” Donghyuck said as he reached for the box and set it between him and Mark. He opened the box, mostly for something to do other than look at Mark’s dark locks. “They’re strawberry cream.”_

_“I thought the cupcakes were for your sister.” Mark chuckled as Donghyuck revealed the delicious-looking cupcakes inside the box._

_Donghyuck laughed. “Her’s are in the car. These_ _are mine, so feel free to dig in.”_

Before Donghyuck could take a cupcake for himself, Mark speaks. “Do you want to eat at the cafeteria? Must be more comfortable than this locker room.”

Donghyuck blinked at the random suggestion but, nonetheless, smiled and nodded. “Okay.”

Donghyuck was about to take the box when Mark closed it himself and carried it, standing to his feet. Donghyuck felt his heart stutter at the realization that had he not caught himself, he would have touched hands with Mark.

Donghyuck stood up, mentally sputtering at himself for thinking childish thoughts. He concluded that it was his coping mechanism for almost ghosts and midnights in an empty school. If his mind and body wanted to distract him by making him think he was with a silly crush, then he was going to roll with it.

The walk to the cafeteria was silent. It lingered somewhere between an awkward silence and a comfortable one. Neither of them made an effort to start a conversation, but they were relatively fine with the silence between them. They weren’t acquainted enough to feel the need to be constantly exchanging words with each other.

They reach the cafeteria, unlocked, and Donghyuck starts to wonder exactly how tight the security is in their school for Mark to barge inside and act as if he owned the place. Mark looked comfortable in the dark of the school, which meant he wasn’t confined to the locker room during the nights. Donghyuck wouldn’t be surprised if Mark spent nights in the library reading any and every book that he could get his hands on.

They didn’t bother to open the lights as they took the table nearest the doors. The vending machines on either side of the twin doors were their only source of light. Their eyes have already adjusted well to the darkness, so they saw no need to open any lights, especially when it was only the two of them inside.

Donghyuck hoped it was only the two of them. For all he knew, there was still a potential ghost roaming the halls of the school.

The light from the vending machines were faint, barely a glow against their skin. It reminded Donghyuck of the light from convenience store lights, and he realized that having cupcakes in the cafeteria wasn’t unlike late night snacks outside of a convenience store.

Donghyuck reached inside his pocket, smiling triumphantly when he found a fistful of change inside. He stood up, leaving Mark at the table, almost cooing at how he looked with his mouth full of cupcake and the corner of his lips smudged with the smallest of frostings.

Mark watched silently as Donghyuck made his way to the vending machine and inserted a number of coins inside the coin slot. He didn’t ask what Donghyuck was doing; he was getting himself something to drink, Mark could see that. He silently watched as he slowly chewed on the food in his mouth, not bothering to wipe at the frosting he felt on the corner of his lip.

“Here.” Donghyuck held out a can of chilled coffee in front of Mark, an identical one in his other hand. He shook the can lightly in front of Mark’s confused expression, giggling at the reaction. “It’s payback? For earlier. I don’t like too much change, too, and the coins were heavy.”

Mark took the can, noting how warm Donghyuck’s hand felt when he accidentally brushed his fingers against the side of it, a stark contrast to the chilly drink he was taking. “Thank you. For the cupcakes, and the coffee.”

Mark pressed his lips in quick contemplation before mustering up an ounce of confidence that didn’t come close to the gallon of bravery he needed to say the words, “And for the company.”

Donghyuck was thankful for the darkness around them when he felt his cheeks heat up. He sat back down next to Mark, reaching for another cupcake and fingering at the lining.

“Oh.” he said as he picked at the paper. “It’s nothing. If anything, I’m sorry for, you know... catching you here, or something.”

“No, it’s fine.” Mark quickly reassured. “I shouldn’t even be here, anyway.”

“Me, too.” Donghyuck mused as he let go of the cupcake and lifted his coffee can towards Mark. “But we’re here, right? And I may be one for gossip, but I know how to keep a secret.”

Mark smiled timidly with a nod just as reserved. He looked at the can tilted towards his direction and lifted his own, tapping his against Donghyuck’s before opening it. “You’re welcome here any time, then.”

Donghyuck watched as Mark sipped on the coffee, his eyes moving from the can and up to Mark’s downcast eyes, eventually stopping on his hair, messy from the towel and dry from the air. His brows furrowed when he felt the small smile creeping on his lips at the thought of coming back here. “I’d like that.”

Donghyuck looked down fast enough that he didn’t see Mark’s reaction. He opened his can, wincing at the sound it made. His small smile turns into a quick giggle when Mark chuckled at his wince. He pursed his lips in subtle embarrassment as he looked up through his eyelashes, seeing the last instant of Mark laughing.

“Don’t laugh at me.” he placed the can next to the cupcake whilst slumping his shoulders in a childish pout. He looked at Mark through the corner of his eyes, trying to contain his giggles when he saw Mark’s dumbfounded look when he pouted.

Mark knew that Donghyuck had a habit of acting cutely, but he never imagined that he’s once be on the receiving end of the boy’s adorable antics. It felt different, he concluded, to be the target of Donghyuck’s perky attitude and seeing glimpses of it in passing.

“Are you always this cute or is it a midnight thing?” Mark mused, knowing full well that Donghyuck’s cute and perky tendencies were a part of his personality. He rested his cheek on his closed fist, his elbow propped on the table. His lips tugged upward when he saw the faintest of blushes on Donghyuck’s cheeks that the dark failed to hide.

“You’re just sleepy.” Donghyuck muttered. He bit on his cupcake for something to do, chewing on the soft chiffon whilst turning to face Mark.

“Good thing I have coffee, then.” Mark responded as he tipped the can to take a hearty gulp of the cold drink. Donghyuck stifled a smile when he saw that Mark still had frosting on his lip.

“You have frosting.” Donghyuck tapped the corner of his own lip. “Here.”

“Oh.” Mark said, acting as if he wasn’t just lazy to wipe it off earlier. He rubbed his lips against his closed fist, licking the frosting that transferred from his lip to his knuckle. “Thanks.”

Donghyuck continued to eat his cupcake, and Mark watched. He was contemplating deeply whether or not to answer the questions he could feel swirling around the boy’s mind. He was thankful that Donghyuck was respecting his privacy and suppressing his blatant curiosity, but he felt that he was leaving Donghyuck in the dark even after he was caught red-handed.

“I had a fight with my parents.” he finally said as he picked up the second to the last cupcake in the box, stripping it of its lining before taking a huge bite out of it.

Donghyuck turned to his and gave him a small nod. “You told me that already.”

Mark swallowed, licking his lips clean of the frosting that stayed there. “They want to move to Vancouver. My older brothers and I don’t want to, but me mostly. I don’t want to leave all my friends here. So I argued with my parents. It was a nasty fight, and I packed up and left. I told my brothers that I was staying with a friend, but I guess you can see that that didn’t happen...”

Mark must really love his friends to pack up and run away from home. Donghyuck didn't know how much Mark resented the idea of moving countries, but he was sure that it was an overwhelming amount if it made him leave home after an argument. Donghyuck curled his lips into a small knot. He wondered if Mark's friends knew how much they meant to them. He always looked closed off, sometimes even with his friends, and Donghyuck hoped that Mark's friends understood the boy's love language and felt the love he had for them.

“Why didn’t you? Stay with your friends.” Donghyuck asked.

Mark shrugged. “I didn’t want to burden them. And I know that if I stayed with one of them, my brothers would come looking for me to drag me home. I love the two of them to bits, but... I really don’t want to go home yet.”

“What do you do here at night?” Donghyuck already had a pretty good idea; both from Renjun’s story and the way that he caught Mark earlier. He didn’t think that Mark was one for community service, but he didn’t know enough about Mark to begin with, and he knew more than to judge a book by its cover.

Mark was reserved but that didn’t mean that he was a brat.

“I clean up.” Mark answered with a hum. “People don’t erase the writings on the board, so I do it after the school’s closed down. I align the chairs, too, when they’re a mess. It usually takes a couple of hours, so it keeps me busy until I feel like going to sleep.”

Donghyuck nodded. He’s never met anyone who cleaned to pass the time. The closest he could think of was Renjun and Chenle, but they cleaned when they were stressed or frustrated. Mark cleaned simply because he wanted to and because he had nothing else better to do.

“It must be hard to sneak into school after hours.” Donghyuck thought.

Mark shook his head. “I have soccer practice after classes for most of the week. We usually end late, anyway, so my only problem is getting out of Jaehyun’s sight, since we usually went home together, but other than that, it’s fairly easy.”

Donghyuck nodded again. He almost forgot that Mark was a star player in their school’s soccer team. Jaehyun was his friend, another member of the team, and he was one of the boys that Mark sat with during lunch that played and yelled over others whilst Mark stayed silent reading to his heart’s desire.

“And no one knows that you’re staying here?”

Mark looked up from his cupcake and looked at Donghyuck. “You know.”

“Yeah.” Donghyuck exhaled. “I guess, I do.”

Donghyuck ignored the warm feeling building inside for him on being let it on a secret; least of all, Mark’s secret. He felt like he walked in on something he wasn’t supposed to and was asked to stay, and it made him feel light.

Tonight, he saw Mark smile and laugh more than he’s ever seen him before. He’s seen Mark without a beanie on, seen him fresh from a shower, seen him covered in chalk dust, seen him with frosting on his face.

He’s seen more of Mark than he’s ever since ever since they started high school.

Donghyuck didn’t realize that it was possible to want to see more of someone he’s known for years, but here he was, sitting next to Mark Lee, who he's known since the start of high school, and wondering why he never made more of an effort to get to know the boy hiding under beanies and behind books.

But he didn’t know Mark. And he never wanted to, not until now. Before, it was okay if he didn’t and okay if he did; but now, he wanted to know Mark.

It was almost funny to him. He knew that he was easily swayed and almost never stood his ground, but he didn't think that it took so little to change his mind.

“It’s pretty late.” Mark noted as he checked his phone for the time. Donghyuck peeked at the device, sighing when he saw that the time was 1:26 am.

“My sister will have her cupcakes tomorrow, then.” Donghyuck uttered as he took the last cupcake out of the box.

He thought of his sister falling asleep whilst waiting for him to come home with her cupcakes. He laughed at the idea. He’ll deal with her whining tomorrow morning, then.

Mark chuckled. “You should head home.”

He didn’t know why he felt bad for keeping Donghyuck up late on a school night. He didn’t ask Donghyuck to come, he didn’t even expect to see Donghyuck sneaking around school. He didn’t ask Donghyuck to stay, either. The boy decided on his own to share his cupcakes with Mark. But he felt somewhat responsible for the boy being awake at this hour since he was the one he was spending the night with.

But Donghyuck didn’t want to go home yet. He didn’t even feel sleepy. Maybe it was the last vestiges of his fear of ghost or the sugar of the cupcakes and the caffeine of the coffee running through his veins, but he felt more awake than he’s been this morning.

“You won’t ask me why I’m here?” Donghyuck asked. Mark answered his questions, it was only right that he return the favour.

Mark shrugged. “Your sister wanted cupcakes.”

Donghyuck laughed as Mark took another gulp of coffee. He licked the side of the cupcake, taking a small amount of frosting from the treat. “My friend was going on about the boys’ locker room being haunted.”

Recognition and amusement fill Mark’s eyes, and he laughs. “So you decided to play ghost buster and hunt me down?”

“I didn’t know that it was _you_ I was hunting down.” Donghyuck said. “But you’re certainly better than a dead ghost terrorizing the school.”

“Explains why you were so jumpy.” Mark commented. He balled up the lining of his cupcake and tossed it inside the box, along with the other discarded cupcake linings. Mark didn’t have a sweet tooth but the cupcakes were delicious.

Donghyuck hummed with a shrug. “Wasn’t very brave of me, right?”

“Sneaking inside school in the dead of the night with threats of ghosts sounds pretty brave to me.” Mark said. His finger was idly trailing the edges of the can.

“I guess.” Donghyuck laughed. “Kinda stupid, too, now that I think about it.”

“If it makes you feel any better,” Mark tittered. “I’ve been living here for a month.”

Donghyuck wrinkled his nose teasingly. “Okay, fine. You win.”

The two boys shared another laugh. They downed the rest of their chilled coffees before tossing the box of cupcakes and the cans inside the trash bin and exiting the cafeteria.

“I’ll walk you out.” Mark announced as they walked side-by-side the hallway. Compared to the earlier echoes of his footsteps, Donghyuck didn’t feel a shiver down his spine now that his steps were accompanied by Mark’s. Now, instead of someone following him from behind, the echoes sounded like a gentle tic in the background.

Donghyuck laughed as he nodded. “What a hospitable host.”

“Only the best for my guests.” Mark played along with a playfully smug smile.

When they reach the classroom that Donghyuck snuck into, Mark opened the door for him. Donghyuck pulled the window open, smiling at Mark after.

“I’ll see you in class?” Mark said. He noted that the classroom they were in was their English Literature classroom, one of the three classes that they shared and also their first class of the day.

Donghyuck nodded as he realized the same thing Mark did. “Yeah. If you want, I can get you a cup of coffee on the way? It’s pretty late and I doubt you can sleep in as much as I can before having to get ready for school.”

Mark smiled. He realized that he’s smiled a lot tonight, more than he usually did when he was around his friends. Donghyuck was his friend now, too, he decided. “I’ll pay you back.”

Donghyuck waved his hand in dismissal as he sat on the ledge of the window. “No need. Really. It’s fine.”

“I’ll get coffee next time, then.” Mark concluded. He didn’t want to take Donghyuck for granted, not when he was already keeping his secret when he had no reason to do so.

Donghyuck nodded. “It’s up to you.”

Donghyuck passed through the ledge, waving at Mark one last time before running off to where his car was. Mark pushed himself off from where he was leaning on the teacher’s desk and walked to the wall. He closed the window, mentally wishing Donghyuck a good night before making his way back to the locker room to catch a few hours of sleep before he had to hide for the morning.


	3. Chapter 3

Donghyuck wasn’t fond of making promises. He didn’t avoid them, but he didn’t set out and go out of his way to make them, either. He didn’t even realize that he made a handful of promises the night before until he was awake the next morning and fulfilling them without a second thought.

The first promise was Yeonhyuck’s cupcakes. As expected, she was fast asleep when he got home. He didn’t want to wake her only to be snarled at and fell asleep on again, so he simply left the box in the kitchen and went to his room to steal a few hours of sleep before he had to wake up.

He was surprised to have woken up an hour before he usually did, but it was only because he had a few more promises he needed to fulfill. A small part of his brain also told him that waking up at 5 instead of 6 was going to be his new schedule, and that he was going to get out of bed the moment he woke up instead of spending half an hour under his blankets in silence. Donghyuck was surprised that he was able to cooperate so quickly, but didn’t dare question his new-found self-discipline.

After a quick shower, he sat down on his bed, running a towel through his hair to dry it as best he can until he was too tired to do it any longer. He slipped on his shoes without using his hands, taking more time than needed if he wasn’t too lazy to move. After he was ready for school, he hopped down the stairs of his house, this time in small steps instead of the frantic sprinting he was doing yesterday morning.

He found the box of red velvet cupcakes on the kitchen island where he left them last night. There was noise coming from his parents’ room when he passed earlier, which meant they have just woken up and were preparing for the day before heading to the kitchen. Yeonhyuck won’t be up for another hour, the same time Donghyuck usually did.

He left it next to her lunch box before grabbing an apple for himself and running out before his mother could enter the kitchen and start cooking something that made his mouth water and feet stay glued to the kitchen floor as he waited for breakfast. He didn’t have time for breakfast; he still had to pick up coffee for Mark. Another promise he didn’t realize he made.

It was more short-term than his more obvious promise of not telling anyone about Mark’s living situation, but it was a promise, nonetheless, and Donghyuck wasn’t going to break it. He wanted Mark to know that he was trustworthy and that if he needed anything, Donghyuck was willing to lend a hand. He was convinced that after last night, he and Mark were at least friends now.

With barely 5 hours of sleep, Donghyuck trudges to his car, throwing his bag to the side as he pulled out from the garage and drove to the bakery he was at last night. He could vaguely remember a menu of coffees displayed on the counter, and if their coffee was anything like their cupcakes, he’d very much like a sip. He hummed to the music playing as usual, bobbing his head a little despite his drowsiness.

“Good morning!” he smiled softly as he entered the empty bakery. The scent of coffee beans and bread instantly filled his senses, and he let out a contented sigh as his senses awoken by the slightest.

A different person was in front of the counter this morning but Donghyuck expected that.

“Good morning.” the girl smiled in return. She waited for Donghyuck to step in front of the counter before continuing. “What can I get for you?”

“Uhmm,” Donghyuck hummed as his eyes glances over the menu of morning drinks. “two large cappuccinos, please.”

The girl nodded and proceeded to prepare the hot drinks. Donghyuck thought that Mark would appreciate the largest cup available, seeing as how Mark seemed as much of a caffeine addict as he was himself. Donghyuck hummed in thought; that was one of the only things he knew about Mark before last night.

Donghyuck turned his back to the counter and looked around the bakery. There were freshly made pastries laid out on the display tables. With a quick look at the busy girl, Donghyuck opted to look around the tables, the faint noise of the kitchen behind them being heard through the thick walls. Donghyuck decided that he was going to start frequenting this bakery from now on. They had amazing cupcakes and everything was clearly freshly made; not to mention that it was opened for 24 hours, so craving bread in the middle of the night won’t be an issue for him anymore.

He took a tray under one of the display tables and a pair of tongs that were laid out next to the pastries. He placed a plate on his tray before taking two bagels and two blueberry muffins on top of the plate, deciding that coffee was better with some warm pastries.

“I’d like these, too, please.” Donghyuck said as he returned to the counter where two large paper cups of coffee were waiting for him.

The girl quickly bagged up the food and Donghyuck paid for everything before stepping out of the bakery. It was half past 6 and there was sure to be a handful of students already in school already, either living too far to afford waiting for traffic, looking to finish some school work before any distractions came to them, or it was just in their nature to be 2 hours early every morning before their brain cells and attention spans were fried during the day. He wondered what time Mark got up, thinking it was probably some time before 5, when the school was opened for the day.

He took a sip of his coffee as he sat down on the driver’s seat, smiling contently to himself when his taste buds got a hint of vanilla. A small drop of it must have been mixed in with the milk. It wasn’t an overpowering flavour and very much welcomed. He took another sip before setting it down next to Mark’s and starting the car.

Donghyuck was almost surprised that he was giggling as he parked in the school’s empty parking lot. He would have found it unusual, but it wasn’t impossible. He was a bubbly person and didn’t need anything specific to start laughing. He pulled his keys out of the ignition and slumped into the backrest of the seat. He knotted his lips to the side, reaching out for his cup of coffee and stealing another sip.

“Where would he be at this time?” he mumbled to himself. He supposed that Mark won’t be in the locker room or the showers at this time. He must have been up an hour ago to prepare for the day, leaving the scent of peppermint in the shower room as he left.

“He could be in the library.” Donghyuck thought aloud as he hopped out of his car, his bag over his shoulders, bag of pastries in one hand and coffees in the other. “And if not, he might be in the classroom already.”

He entered the school, only mildly surprised to see not an inch of life anywhere. It looked like how it did last night, empty and hollow; the only difference was there was sunlight seeping through the halls instead of moonlight. He figured that it would be easier to look for a beanie-wearing boy in an empty school instead of crowded hallways.

He went to the English literature classroom first. If Mark wasn’t there then at least he’d have placed his things down before walking around again. He greeted the janitor he passed politely, the friendly old man keeping his questions of a student’s uncalled for earliness to himself. He also heard some noise from a classroom or two, proving that he and Mark weren’t the only two people inside like last night. Other students also went to school early.

He still found it ridiculous that Mark Lee was living in school, but he wasn’t one to judge. Donghyuck was aware that there will always be things in the world where he can’t ever fully understand, and that only made him more curious. He wanted to understand even the most absurd thoughts that anyone could think, and right now, at the back of his mind, Donghyuck had labeled Mark as the most recent subject of his curiosity.

He only hoped that Mark didn’t mind being coddled as Donghyuck peeked inside the classroom and smiled at the sight of Mark Lee seated under the window Donghyuck used as a passageway last night. He was freshly showered, hair still damp but already covered by his red beanie. He had his nose stuck in a book again, large framed glasses perched on the bridge of his nose as he sat cross-legged on the cold floor. He looked cozy and at home; Donghyuck wasn’t sure if the sense of homeliness came from the book in his hands of the fact that he’s stayed in school for over a month now.

“Good morning.” Donghyuck tried to keep his voice low enough as to not pull Mark away too harshly from his reading, but loud enough to demand attention from the boy.

He smiled even more when Mark looked up from his book, something that his friends are always very vocal about being a difficult task to do, and offered him a sleepy smile. “Good morning.”

“I brought breakfast.” Donghyuck chirped as he skipped inside the classroom and towards the seated boy. He waved the paper bag in the air and placed the coffees on top of the chair nearest to Mark before plopping down next to the boy and cradling the paper bag in his lap.

Mark’s eyes lit gratefully as the smell of bread and coffee filled his nostrils.

“You’re a life saver.” he exhaled as Donghyuck handed him one of the muffins.

Donghyuck giggled as he reached over Mark to take his cup of coffee before Mark decided to drink from that cup. He can’t have Mark drinking from an unfull cup. “I try. Did you sleep well?”

“The benches may look uncomfortable, but they’re okay.” Mark answered, not exactly a lie. He supposed that he simply grew used to sleeping on wood instead of a mattress, but it was the best he got at the moment. He barely got any sleep last night, though, having to entertain a surprise guest well into the night.

Donghyuck nodded, accepting the answer. “That’s good, I guess. I can’t even imagine having to sleep somewhere so cold.”

“It’s fine.” Mark wasn’t lying, and Donghyuck was grateful to have noticed.

“Did you even sleep? You were here until pretty late.” Mark’s brows furrowed in the smallest shows of concern before he bit into the muffin.

Donghyuck nodded. “Only half of what I usually get, but not something I couldn’t get used to.”

Mark raised a brow at the last part of Donghyuck’s statement. He studied Donghyuck’s expression, waiting for a joke to come after, but getting nothing except for Donghyuck filling his mouth with a big bite of his bagel. He almost moaned at the texture of the bagel, almost melting into his mouth the moment he bit it. It tasted just as amazing as it smelled and Donghyuck regretted that he only bought two.

“This isn’t a one-time thing?” Mark asked when it was obvious that Donghyuck wasn’t going to fill in the blanks for him without a nudge.

Donghyuck noticed Mark’s raised brow, imitating it. “Why? Can you stop me?”

Mark didn’t have to be close friends with Donghyuck or Donghyuck’s friends to know that the boy was stubborn. If he wanted to do it then he very much will do as he pleases, and there would be hell to pay for anyone who even attempted to stop him or make him do something he didn’t want to. Even teachers had a hard time making Donghyuck pass everything they required for the subject, it was a blessing in itself if Donghyuck didn’t have any missed works at the end of the year; most of them not being half-assed was another thing, though.

Mark blinked as Donghyuck waited for his answer. He didn’t think he’d ever be on the receiving end of Donghyuck’s stubbornness, but he was here now, a coffee in one hand and a muffin in the other, trying to ask himself if he really wanted Donghyuck’s attention to be a one-time thing.

Mark chuckled as he shook his head, biting into his muffin. “Wouldn’t even dare of it.”

“Good, because you can’t.” Donghyuck huffed. “I’m taking it upon myself to at least check up on you. And besides, what if some other student decides to ghost hunt?”

Mark leaned in, scrunching his nose playfully at the boy. “Aww, Hyuck. You know you’re the only one.”

Donghyuck scoffed in surprise, looking away from Mark in disbelief. “You’re not exactly someone people would line up for, you know.”

He didn’t question the flutter in his heart. A cute boy suddenly leaned closer and scrunched his nose in a way only cute boys can and said something equally as cute. Donghyuck was only human, of course his heart would flutter. He was thankful that he wasn’t one to blush easily, because the last thing he wanted was for Mark to think he was helping him because he had a hopeless crush on him.

He was cute, yes. Donghyuck wasn’t blind. But that wasn’t why he was helping Mark out of the goodness of his own heart.

Mark shrugged, clearly unoffended by the barb. He leans back into the wall, going back to the paragraph he was on before Donghyuck arrived. “That’s how I like it.”

Donghyuck tilted his head at Mark. He knew that people of the same personality attracted each other, so it was a mystery as to how Mark’s inner circle consisted of their year’s rowdiest boys. Mark was someone prone to shying away from attention, something his friends would always bring to their table during lunch. He liked the quiet and staying in a corner, reading, much like how Donghyuck found him inside the classroom minutes ago.

But from last night, Mark was also talkative. He had stories to tell, whether his own or from the countless books he’s read; a life he shared with people he was close to. He was as playful as his other friends were, ready to jump at opportunities to play. He was sneaky, something that made the beanies he wore be something less of an accessory and more of a warning. He was sentimental, but didn’t like to admit it. He smelled like peppermint and caffeine if you stood near enough. His dark hair were the same black colour as his eyes and Donghyuck wondered just how closely he watched Mark to be able to make these conclusions so easily.

Neither of them realized that they have fallen into a silence. They pushed it off as something that happens when two strangers are together, but they knew that awkward silences weren’t as comfortable as the one they were having right now. Mark sipped on his coffee, sighing as he gulped down the warm drink.

He turned to Donghyuck, stifling a laugh when he sees the boy’s cheeks full from the remainder of the bagel that he stuffed into his mouth in one bite.

“Why are you doing this?” he asked him. They weren’t friends, there was no reason for Donghyuck to go out of his way to get him coffee and breakfast and offer a promise of continuity. He accepted the reason without question and didn’t pry. He never looked at Mark differently aside from the growing curiosity in his eyes that Mark could see he was trying to contain. He reacted the same way he knew his friends would react if he told them, and that made Mark breathe easy. Keeping his secret was more than enough for Mark.

He didn’t want to seem ungrateful for the boy, his company was a breath of fresh air for Mark. It was nice to share his secret with someone after keeping it for so long. But he didn’t want to be a charity case.

Donghyuck looked at Mark as he chewed slowly. He can see the internal debate Mark was having through his eyes. His shoulders slumped slightly at the thought that Mark was taking his efforts as anything less than friendly. He supposed that he may have been a little _too_ involved within the last 12 hours, and it was understandable that Mark was growing suspicious.

Donghyuck just had to shoo all the suspicion away with a small and genuine smile. “Because if I won’t do it, then no one will take care of you. And because I want to.”

Mark watched Donghyuck’s shoulders rise and fall in a shrug. He nodded. “Thank you.”

Donghyuck’s eyes glinted with a small light as he answered. “It’s no problem. We’re friends, right?”

Mark nodded again, his smile as genuine as before. “Friends.”

“Good, because I want another bagel and I steal food from friends.” Donghyuck successfully lightened the mood as he dug into the paper bag on his lap and took out the bagel originally for Mark. He smirked at the boy in front of him, faking a resigned sigh as he pushed the bag onto the floor between him and Mark.

“I guess you can have my muffin. I share food with my friends, too.” he said before taking a big bite out of the bagel and Mark could only laugh as he shook his head and went back to his book, his lips wrapped around the mouth piece of the paper cup in his hand.

They stayed in front of each other on the floor for another half hour, when they had to get up because they weren’t the only two people inside anymore. Their coffees and pastries were long finished and Donghyuck insisted that he throw out the waste because he’d never dare disrupt Mark and his reading.

“You’ve been doing that since you arrived.” Mark barbed playfully, which earned him a snort and a laugh from Donghyuck before he walked out of the classroom.

They didn’t talk anymore when Donghyuck entered the classroom. Mark was already seated on the back corner of the classroom, focused on his book the same way he always is when he reads— brows furrowed, less in concentration and more in habit, his fingers grazing the edges of the page mindlessly as his eyes passed through every word with his full attention. Donghyuck giggled at the sight, not knowing how he never found the sight adorable until now.

“What’s got you so giggly?” Jaemin asked as he entered the classroom, stopping next to Donghyuck who was by the teacher’s table.

Donghyuck tore his eyes away from Mark and shook his head, letting out another laugh. “Nothing.”

Jaemin raises an eyebrow at him but doesn’t push anymore. He’d much rather drown in the espresso in his thermos than try to get something out of Donghyuck.

* * *

They don’t see each other again after first period. They only shared three classes together and even then, they had no more reason to interact for a while.

Mark found his eyes wavering away from his book and onto the boy who sat two rows forward and four seats to the left, right in the middle of the classroom. He’d blink and go back to his book, sighing at the reminder that teachers were too tired to remind him to pay attention in class. There was nothing tearing him away from a good book, it was an accepted fact all throughout their year. After class ended, Donghyuck passed him a small wave before he left the classroom, though, Mark answering with a small smile before the boy was dragged out of the room by Jaemin.

Mark nibbled on his rice, keeping his chopsticks between his lips and grazing them with the tips of his teeth lightly as he chewed. He was concentrated on his book, only partly aware that Lucas was whining next to him and Jaehyun was across him, doing a poor job of consoling the other. Johnny was across Lucas, watching amusedly as Lucas whined about missing his boyfriend.

Mark thinks it started with Taeyong’s visit to their table, the student council president asking the soccer team captain if there were any problems with their training schedule— the usual thing that an over-invested student council president would burden himself with. Jaehyun smiled and replied that, like always, everything was fine with the team.

When Taeyong left to look for the basketball team captain next, Jaehyun was teased by Johnny and Lucas, making sure that Taeyong was out of earshot to hear about Jaehyun’s not-so obvious crush on him. Jaehyun has been crushing on Taeyong since he was elected the president at the start of the year, but only the friends knew that. Jaehyun was too good at keeping his cool around Taeyong.

It somehow shifted to Jaehyun being able to _see_ his crush during school hours, unlike the two boys teasing him. Johnny only rolled his eyes at the failed diatribe, but brushing it off with a snort wasn’t what Lucas ended up doing. He pouted at the barb, crossing his arms and complained that Jaehyun was hitting below the belt.

Mark never once lifted his head from his book, only moving to turn the page or take a bite of his food, eyes fixed on the printed words. His friends were used to his disattachement to lunch time talk, and he was used to tuning out their chatter in favour of reading. He could still pick up bits and pieces, though, partly to add into the conversation when needed, but mostly because no matter how much of a natural he is at tuning out the world, his friends still managed to break through.

“It won’t be too much if I move, right?” Lucas looked to Johnny for approval. “Johnny, you can move with me! You’ll see Ten more!”

The inclusion of Johnny made it clear to Mark that Lucas didn’t mean moving houses like he first thought. Lucas was talking about moving schools. He almost snorted at the idea of the two leaving him and Jaehyun. Or maybe they’d bring them, too, it wasn’t a far stretch.

Johnny laughed, throwing his head back as he did. Mark looked up from his book for half a second to give Lucas a judging look but quickly went back to eating and reading.

“His apartment is across from mine.” Johnny reminded. “I can see him whenever I want to.”

Lucas huffed. “That’s just not fair. I have to drive half an hour to get to Jungwoo.”

Jaehyun laughed. “Come on, we’re graduating this year. Why move now?”

“Because I want to be with my boyfriend!” Lucas drawled, stomping his feet under the table next to Mark. Mark rolled his eyes as he brought another bite of rice to his lips. Mark wrinkled his nose as a thought that was fighting its way into Mark’s mind, but Mark was still struggling to piece it together.

Jaehyun laughed, reaching across their table to pat Lucas’s hand. “You see him at least once a week, Lucas.”

“Still.” Lucas huffed again, crossing his arms, making Jaehyun’s hand fall to the lunch table. “I still want to spend every day with him. Friday movie night is great and all but I want to be with him 7 days a week. You get me?”

He looked at Jaehyun and Mark, knowing that Johnny got the exact privilege he wanted and therefore did not spare him a glance. The other two, however, did not get him. Jaehyun was still in the secret crush stage of his love life and Mark was simply uninterested in giving his heart to something non-fictional.

“Why don’t you just move in with him?” Mark mumbled as he brought his chopsticks up to his mouth again, mindlessly chewing on the metal utensil along with his rice. He belatedly registered the abnormal silence that visited their table. He furrows his brows at the lack of noise and looks up, seeing his three friends looking at him with different expressions.

Mark barely talked, so when he did, his friends always appreciated the comments and thought highly of them. Seeing his friends’ different reactions wasn’t new to him, but seeing the suspisciously meaningful look that Jaehyun and Johnny exchanged before looking back to Mark made him raise a brow.

Jaehyun was biting his lip in a sort of wince, leaning back from Mark slightly. Johnny looked like he was ready to jump across the table and smack Mark upside the head for suggesting such an absurd idea. It was clear to Mark that Johnny and Jaehyun have talked about this exact topic before and were dreading the execution of the idea.

Lucas, however, looked at Mark like he suddenly told him the secret to immortality, taking a huge breath before lunging at Mark, sending the boy’s boy and chopsticks out of his hands as he was shaken by his friend.

“That’s genius! Mark, that’s right! I _should_ move in with him! He’d be fine with it, right? Right?!” Lucas yelled as he shook Mark.

Jaehyun face palmed, keeping his face in his palms and shaking his head. Johnny let out a tired breath.

“Are you sure you want to... move in together?” Johnny asked. Jungwoo lived a corner away from where he and Ten lived. He loved Lucas, really, he was one of his best friends, but he didn’t want the boy knocking on his door half past midnight for no reason at all. He still valued his sleep. “Isn’t it too fast?”

It was something Ten and Jungwoo have harmlessly joked about once and stayed with Johnny a few days longer than it should have. He talked to Jaehyun about it, and the conversation was forgotten until months later, right now, when Mark proposed the idea to a whining Lucas who would jump at any idea thrown at him.

At the question, Lucas lets go of Mark, who sighs in relief of being released. He lets out a huge breath, clutching his heart dramatically. Despite the background noise of the full cafeteria, he can hear a distinct laugh to the side. He turns to the sound and sees Donghyuck giggling at him before turning back to his friends, who looked just as energetic as his own.

He felt his ears heat up at the thought of Donghyuck watching him get manhandled by Lucas, but then again, Donghyuck looked like he’d do the same without a second thought.

“It’s not too fast.” Lucas insisted. “Jungwoo and I have been dating for almost a year now! You and Ten were dating for half a year before deciding to live next to each other.”

“That’s different.” Jaehyun said in behalf of Johnny. “Johnny and Ten knew each other basically their whole lives. You met Jungwoo through Johnny and Ten two years ago. They’ve had way more time to get used to each other before living together. And even then, they don’t stay in the same apartment.”

Johnny nodded in agreement as Mark snorted, finding the defeated look on Lucas’s face entertaining.

“It took him a year to ask Jungwoo out on a date, imagine how long it’ll take before he manages to ask Jungwoo to live together.” Mark barbed as he shot Lucas a nasty look for interrupting his reading. Lucas narrowed his eyes at the boy, who only stuck his nose out at him before turning back to his book.

“Besides,” Johnny said with a shrug, suppressing his snort from Mark’s comment. “I don’t think you’d manage living half an hour away from school.”

Lucas shrugged, too. He had that big smile on his face he always had whenever he’d space off during class and think of something else. “I mean, sure, but it’s fine. It’s certainly not off the table, though. I think Jungwoo and I are ready to live together.”

No one dared question the declaration. It was clear to all of them that what Lucas said was not untrue. He and Jungwo _were_ ready to move in together, it was just a matter of whether or not Johnny and Ten were ready to have another neighbor.

Mark once again looked up from his book and locked eyes with Donghyuck, who only looked when he felt a pair of eyes on him. Donghyuck smiled and tapped the corner of his lips with his chopsticks before giggling again, seemingly at the conversation his friends were having, but Mark knew the laugh was directed at him when his tongue shot out from inside his mouth and brought in a stray piece of rice into his mouth.

Mark shook his head and went back to reading.


	4. Chapter 4

By the time classes let out for the day, Donghyuck had forgotten about the faint scent of peppermint that his mind partially convinced him was there but he was sure was not. He knew that smells didn’t linger for hours, but his mind was a rebellious thing, wanting Donghyuck’s nostrils to sniff peppermint body wash at random times. If he didn’t know any better, he’d think that the scent was following him around or that the scent coming off of him.

He _almost_ forgot about it.

When he and Jeno passed by the soccer field to see Jaemin off for practice, Donghyuck catches a glimpse of Mark and Jaehyun kicking a ball around, in their own little world before practice started. Other members of the soccer team have already arrived but there were still a few that were missing. They still had ten minutes before they started, so their couch was sitting on the bleachers on his phone, not minding the soccer players running around.

Donghyuck blinked before stifling a laugh. It was the first time he let himself actually focus on Mark on the partially rare occasion that he’d accompany Jeno to drop Jaemin off for practice. It was the first time that he _really_ realized that even during soccer practice, Mark wore a beanie.

Ever since last night, when he saw how dark Mark’s hair really was, he took an effort to notice the small tufts of hair that peeked out of Mark’s beanie, above his ears and on his nape but never over his brows. The amount of hair showing didn’t compare to how thick and fluffy Mark’s hair really was and Donghyuck thought it was a shame that not a lot of people could appreciate Mark’s soft locks.

He supposed that it helped keep Mark’s hair out of his face whenever he played; from what he saw last night, Mark’s hair tended to droop down into his eyes, no matter if the strands were wet or dry. He wondered if Mark felt hot, though, as he kicked a ball around with the afternoon sun. He feared that Mark frequently had headaches at the end of practice because of the heat of the afternoon sun.

Jaemin noticed Donghyuck suppressing a laugh, so he turned to see what Donghyuck was looking at. He raised an eyebrow when he saw the two boys passing a ball by their feet, unable to find what had Donghyuck so giggly. Jaehyun and Mark often passed a ball around before and after practice—the two boys can never stay put for long whenever they were together and there wasn’t anything odd about the sight either.

Then, a small smirk made its way to Jaemin’s features. He noticed the subtle changes in Donghyuck today, how his eyes drifted to a certain beanie-wearing boy more than usual, which was almost never. He noticed the staring Mark was doing earlier in the morning, too; despite not being the one looked at, he could still feel the eyes bore into the seat next to him.

“What’s with you and Mark?” Jaemin asked Donghyuck as he turned to look at his friend, a vague image of Mark and Donghyuck at the cafeteria yesterday coming into his mind. He didn’t pay attention to it at all, only seeing them talk for a moment before he turned back to the conversation he was having with the others at the time. But he certainly saw Mark and Donghyuck talking.

Donghyuck blinked out of his daze, turning to Jaemin in confused surprise. He takes a moment to comprehend what Jaemin said, not paying attention to understand it instantly.

“What about me and Mark?” Donghyuck asked as he looked to Jeno, who only shrugged.

Jaemin smirked even more, poking Donghyuck’s side with two fingers. “Oh, come on! There’s _something_ , I can feel it!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Donghyuck laughed as he turned to Jeno again, internally asking him to end the tickling session. “Jeno, help!”

Jeno chuckled as he took Jaemin’s wrists, holding it between the three of them as he looked at Jaemin.

“What are you talking about? Do Mark and Donghyuck even know each other?” he asked Jaemin with a laugh before glancing at Donghyuck for confirmation, only to receive a half-hearted shrug.

He didn’t know how to explain the sudden friendship he had with Mark, which happened literally the night before. He figured he’d have another day or two before anyone noticed that he and Mark were suddenly friends and play it off as ‘it just happened’ instead of ‘it’s a long story’.

“Who _doesn’t_ know Mark? And who doesn’t know _Donghyuck_?” Jaemin said with an exaggerated scoff. Neither made an effort to argue. It was true, what with Mark’s eccentricities and circle of friends, and Donghyuck’s own group of friends and his innate friendliness, who in the school didn’t know who they were?

Donghyuck rolled his eyes. “I don’t know where you’re coming from, Jaemin. There’s nothing going on with me and Mark.”

He didn’t think that accidentally finding out about Mark’s secret of hiding until the school was empty and taking it upon himself to clean up the classrooms at night as a way of paying rent was the something Jaemin was thinking.

“You like him, don’t you?” Jaemin’s overly-teasing grin made its appearance as he leaned forward, wrists still bound in the middle of the three.

The look on Jaemin’s face wasn’t unknown to either Jeno or Donghyuck. Jaemin was one to jump to conclusions about crushes and love and the like, claiming that ‘I have a boyfriend, it’s only right that my friends get into their own relationships.’ and that it was about time the others found someone they liked. More often than not, Jaemin’s assumptions were wrong and reduced to simply teasing.

“What?” Donghyuck almost blustered at the accusation. “Why would you even think that?”

Jaemin tilted his head to the side, and Donghyuck knew he was contemplating on whether or not he should answer in the presence of Jeno. Donghyuck lifted a brow, and Jaemin laughed, shaking his head.

A part of Donghyuck wanted to know what Jaemin had to say, but a bigger part of him didn’t want Jaemin’s off-track deductions to be said in the presence of a third party and where they were standing by the bleachers where anyone could hear.

He didn’t want rumours to go around, especially not when he and Mark have just begun to be friends. He didn’t know how Mark took rumours and the last thing Donghyuck wanted was for Mark to become uncomfortable around him and stay away from him.

Jaemin decided to ask another question, giving another one of his grins. “Does Mark like you, then?”

Donghyuck finally blustered, smacking his wrists out of Jeno’s hands just for the sake of doing something. “What? Jaemin, seriously?”

Jaemin laughed and tilted his head behind him. Donghyuck narrowed his eyes at Jaemin, not wanting to humour him. Jeno, however, looked to where Jaemin was gesturing and a sly smile crossed his features when he saw that Mark and Jaehyun have stopped passing the ball around. They were standing side-by-side, Jaehyun gulping down a bottle of water whilst Mark threw and caught the ball in the air. There was nothing notable of the scene, aside from Mark glancing at their direction every other sentence that he and Jaehyun exchanged.

“Donghyuck.” Jeno laughed in question as he turned back to the boy. He still couldn’t quite see where Jaemin was coming from, but he knew that Mark’s glances had to mean something.

Donghyuck huffed, feeling his cheeks blush pink for a reason unknown. He was either frustrated or flustered but either way, the blush doesn’t go unnoticed by his two friends. “I don’t know what you two are talking about.”

Jeno laughed and ruffled Jaemin’s hair affectionately, deciding to drop the topic and pick it up again when there was more to tease Donghyuck about. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Jaemin nodded and shot Donghyuck another teasing smile before running off to his other teammates.

Donghyuck huffed again, suddenly picking up the trace of peppermint in the air. Whether it was the wind carrying Mark’s scent to him from halfway across the field or another false trick by his mind, he wasn’t sure.

“Hey, what time do they finish practice?” Donghyuck asked as he and Jeno started their walk to the car park, away from the waft of peppermint.

 _The wind, then._ Donghyuck decided.

“Oh?” Jeno mused with a raise of a brow. He suppressed the chuckle that formed within him as he answered. “They practice for three hours, so they end at 6.”

Donghyuck hummed with a nod. “Okay. See you tomorrow.”

Jeno waved at Donghyuck before the latter hopped into his car. Jeno chuckled as he saw Donghyuck searching through his playlists before he turned and made his way to his own car to head home.

Jeno never once thought that Mark and Donghyuck would look good together, but it surely was an interesting match.

After Donghyuck was sure that Jeno had driven off, he put his phone down, settling on a random playlist before plugging the aux cord in his phone. He slid the keys inside the ignition, not turning it.

“Three hours...” Donghyuck said to himself as he leaned back into the seat. He looked out the glass of his car. The afternoon sun was high in the sky, and by the time soccer practice was over, the sun would be setting. He thought of what he could do to pass the time.

“I guess I can go home for a while.” he mumbled before turning the ignition. His sister wasn’t due to get home for another hour, seeing as how she never goes straight home after school. Donghyuck contemplated driving by her school to pick her up, but he thought against it. He wouldn’t want to interrupt her time with her friends.

He drove home, deciding to take a quick shower before heading out again.

If he was asked what he was doing, he’d say he didn’t know. He didn’t know why he wanted to go back to school, cheeseburgers in hand, and share them with Mark. He figured that because Mark’s friends didn’t know about his current predicament, that meant Mark and Jaehyun wouldn’t go home together, if they usually did. That meant Mark didn’t have someone to eat an early dinner with, if he ate dinner at all. Donghyuck thought that he’d appreciate an oily burger and a sweet milkshake after three hours under the sun.

Donghyuck parked his car, leaning back into his seat when he remembered the looks Jaemin used when he was accusing him. He let out an unbelieving scoff. He didn’t know why his friend was quick to jump to conclusions just because of a few stray glances.

A shiver ran down his spine at the recollection of what he expected to see in the dark of the locker room. Even the visual imagery of his wild imagination was enough to make the hairs on Donghyuck’s arms stand. But even with an imagination as wild as his, reality couldn’t compare to what he found in place of a big, scary ghost.

Sure, he was expecting to meet a ghost in the dead of the night. He was expecting to be scared out of his wits when he comes face-to-face with bloodshot eyes and pale skin that screamed ‘unjust death’. He didn’t expect the ghost to have eyes as dark as the night outside the school and a cute button-nose, but he was taking what he was being given.

Donghyuck chuckled.

Cheeseburgers sounded really good right now.

He hopped down his car, not bothering to take anything with him, even his phone. He just let the music play despite the engine being off and no one inside the car to hear the songs. He sprinted inside the empty house, taking a bottle of water from the fridge before making his way up to his room. Yeonhyuck wasn’t home, as expected, and his parents weren’t supposed to be home until before dinner, so Donghyuck had the house to himself.

He drank half of the bottles contents before leaving the bottle on his bedside table, ruffling his hair as he trudged inside his room’s bathroom.

He figured he could do homework when he was back in school or not at all. There wasn’t anything he remembered that he had to be doing, so he took his time in the shower. He had hours to spare, and homework wasn’t anything he wanted to be doing at the moment.

He spent half an hour in the shower, much to his dismay. He wanted to stay under the water for a little longer, but the lack of music made him impatient. He sighed, regretting his decision to leave his phone in the car.

He changed into a pair of jeans and a white shirt, shrugging on a letterman jacket that he belatedly realized was the same red as the beanie Mark was wearing. Not knowing what to do with the realization, Donghyuck laughed and kept the jacket on, shaking his head like a puppy to ruffle his damp hair.

He glanced at the time. Yeonhyuck was going to be home in a little over ten minutes, and he didn’t want to have to run another round of cupcakes or whatever else she was craving at the moment.

“Okay, time to get burgers.” Donghyuck smiled as he hopped down the stairs and out of his house, leaving it empty once again.

* * *

The sun was halfway gone when soccer practice was over. Mark was tired, like he always was after three hours of running around and kicking a ball to-and-fro. There was more to soccer than that, but Mark focused on those two alone, since it was those two that took the energy from him the most.

Most of the team have already withdrawn inside the school to shower or change and head home whilst some lingered in the field, talking with their couch or rummaging through their stuff if they left it nearby. Jaehyun and Mark were by the side of the field, where Jaehyun left his gym bag.

“Drink up, short stacks.” Jaehyun laughed as he tossed a water bottle Mark’s way, taking one for himself as well. Jaehyun had a habit of stashing water bottles in his gym bag, which made him look like he had more things in his bag that he needed, but it was for when anyone needed an extra water bottle.

Mark glared at the older as he caught the bottle. “I told you not to call me that.”

“But it suits you.” Jaehyun laughed. Then, he winked. “Besides, it’s revenge for all those years _you_ called _me_ short stacks.”

“We were 7, dude.” Mark laughed before gulping down the contents of the plastic bottle. Sweat trickled down his face and his head was hot under his beanie, but he made no move to remove it. He always had his beanie on, even when he was taller than Jaehyun.

Jaehyun shrugged. “Yeah, and now we’re 17. My turn.”

Jaemin passed by them as they talked, making his way inside the school to shower before leaving. Mark watched the boy, remembering that he was a close friend of Donghyuck’s and that Donghyuck had dropped him off earlier. Mark chuckled at the passing thought of Donghyuck’s height.

 _I wonder if he’s shorter than me._ Mark thought before finishing the rest of the water. He furrows his brows, wondering why he was randomly thinking of Donghyuck.

“Hey, wanna grab a bite after this?” Jaehyun asked as he gently kicked a ball to where the unlucky souls were tasked to clean up. The ball didn’t reach them, stopping a reasonable three feet away from where the balls were being gathered up. Jaehyun shrugged, thinking it was a good kick.

Mark winced as he closed the bottle again, shooting his friend an apologetic smile. He knew that he’d been asking for rain checks more than usual, but he didn’t want Jaehyun to figure out that he was going home to the school instead of his house. He couldn’t keep it from his friends forever, but he was going to keep it a secret for as long as he could.

At the sight of Mark’s reaction, Jaehyun shakes his head and pats Mark’s shoulder. “It’s fine, I get it. Your boyfriend wants you to himself for a while.”

“Next ti— wait, what?” Mark blustered, suddenly frenetic. “Boyfriend?”

Jaehyun looked at Mark as if he’d figured out the boy’s month-long secret, but Mark knew that he was way off course. Jaehyun tilted his head toward the bleachers as he answered. “Yeah. He’s been waiting for you for half an hour now.”

Mark looks to where Jaehyun was motioning to, eyes widening by a fraction when he sees Donghyuck seated on the third row of the bleachers, head down as he wrote on a notebook. He had his school bag next to him, the chords of his earphones disappearing into the small gap of the bag that was opened as he listened to music on his phone. He wasn’t wearing the clothes he was earlier, Mark noted as he took in the jacket Donghyuck was wearing, a small part of his mind wondering if the sleeves were too long and gave Donghyuck paws.

Why Donghyuck was still in school, Mark didn’t know. What Jaehyun was thinking, Mark didn’t want to know.

Mark blinked, brows furrowing as he shook his head at Jaehyun. “Look, Jae, it’s no—“

Jaehyun laughed as he patted Mark’s shoulder again. “Look, dude, I get it. You can tell us when you’re ready. Or when it’s official, I don’t know.”

“Jae, really, it’s not wh—“

“Mark.” Jaehyun laughed again, glancing back at Donghyuck before back at his friend. “We’ve known each other since we’ve been in diapers. I know when you’re hiding something. For what it’s worth, I’m happy for you.”

Mark saw the genuiness in Jaehyun’s eyes and couldn’t bring himself to argue any further. He didn’t want to lie, though, so with a sigh, he says, “We just started getting closer recently. I’ll introduce him to you guys when it’s more... stable.”

It was a half-truth at best. Mark wasn’t lying when he said that he and Donghyuck have only started to grow closer, recently being last night instead of last month like what Jaehyun might be thinking, but it still wasn’t as much of a lie. He really was planning to introduce Donghyuck to his friends if the boy allowed. Mark considered him a friend now and he wanted his other friends to know that.

Jaehyun glanced back at Donghyuck, then at Mark. His brow twitched in amusement at the realization that Donghyuck’s jacket matched the beanie that Mark was wearing. At the inspection of Mark’s beanie, Jaehyun also noticed that the tips of Mark’s ears were pink. He stifled another laugh.

“I’ll wait for that, okay?” Jaehyun jested with a wink before running off into the school, leaving Mark alone to turn back to Donghyuck. He wondered how he didn’t notice Donghyuck earlier, but now that he saw how focused he was in his task, it was obvious that Donghyuck didn’t want to be noticed yet.

Mark tilted his head, watching the way Donghyuck’s hand moved to guide the pen he was holding across the paper. Even from where he stood on the field, he could see Donghyuck’s head bopping slightly to the beat of the song he was listening to. If he took a couple of steps closer, he’d see the curl in Donghyuck’s lips as he wrote, racking his brain for the right words to scribble down.

Mark ruffles his hair through his beanie and walks across the field to stand in front of the bleachers. He contemplates his initial urge to throw the empty bottle at Donghyuck, but then remembers how rowdy Jaemin can be, and hoped that Donghyuck was also the type to be a little abused, if only teasingly.

When the bottle hits the crown of Donghyuck’s head, the boy lifts his head up to glare at Mark, thinking it was Jaemin who was behind the act.

“Jaemin, I swear to—“ he visibly softened when instead of Jaemin’s stubborn grin, he was met with Mark’s wince. The crease in his brow disappears almost instantly, quirking one of it upwards. “Oh. It’s you.”

When Donghyuck showed no signs of scolding Mark like how he was obviously going to chew Jaemin out, Mark chuckled, “I see you don’t seem to like Jaemin very well.”

Donghyuck scoffed as he placed his foot on top of the seat in front of him, tapping his heel against the seat as a gesture for Mark to sit. “No, I do. I like yelling at him.”

Mark sits down on the second row of the bleachers, where Donghyuck wanted him to, and looks up at the boy. “What are you doing here? I think I saw you go home three hours ago.”

“Oh.” Donghyuck laughed. “I came back.”

“Why?” Mark asked. He didn’t want to think that Donghyuck came back to spend time with him. The first thing he did was scold who he assumed to be Jaemin, so it was safe to bet that Donghyuck was waiting for Jaemin instead of wanting to hang out with Mark inside an empty school.

Donghyuck laughed again, pulling his earphones off and opening his bag fully. He took out a paper bag that occupied half of his school bag, the bottom of the paper smudged with the slightest traces of oil. He held it up, smiling brightly at Mark.

“I was in the mood for burgers” Donghyuck smiled as he held the bag out in between him and Mark.

Mark eyed the bag, letting out a small laugh. “You went back to school for burgers?”

“No. I also have milkshakes.” Donghyuck said proudly as he placed the bag next to Mark and turned to the fourth row of the bleachers, where two large cups of milkshakes were hiding behind him. “They’re warm now, though, but I think they’re still good. You like chocolate, don’t you?”

Mark watched as Donghyuck threw his notebook, pen, and earphones inside his bag, not bothering to close it as he placed it behind him and setting the milkshakes next to him instead. Donghyuck smiled at him when he was done, waiting for Mark’s reply.

“You really just wanted burgers and milkshakes?” Mark asked, amused.

Donghyuck shrugged, playfully hopeful that his next words would abate Mark’s interrogating. “Eh. I wanted to share them with you?”

Mark blinked, pursing his lips. Donghyuck was too kind, too warm, that Mark had no idea how to react to his antics. “You didn’t have to.”

“I _wanted_ to.” Donghyuck said, as if Mark didn’t hear his earlier statement. He took the bag into his lap, tearing it open and taking out two wrapped cheeseburgers before setting it back beside Mark. He starts to unwrap one of the burgers as he speaks. “And I wasn’t sure if you have dinner, so might as well have an early dinner with you to make sure you’re fed.”

Donghyuck holds out the unwrapped burger to Mark, and the latter realizes that Donghyuck wasn’t opening the burger for himself, but for him. He meets Donghyuck’s expectant eyes before he takes the burger, waiting for Donghyuck to take a bite of his own burger before doing so himself.

“Thanks.” Mark said.

Donghyuck laughed. “It’s no biggie. And don’t be shy, I bought, like, a dozen burgers.”

Mark chuckled. “Good. Because soccer brings out my appetite.”

“As long as you wash it down, then it’s fine.” Donghyuck said as he bit into his own burger after unwrapping it.

Mark nodded at the barb, taking a bite of his own. “Noted.”

Donghyuck smiled as he watched Mark eat. The way Mark was comfortable enough to talk whilst eating made Donghyuck happy. He didn’t want Mark to be uncomfortable around him.

“Hey,” he asked after a tentative silence between them. “do you eat dinner? Like, if I didn’t show up here, what would you be doing right now?”

Mark hummed in thought as he took another bite. “I guess helping clean up, but since that’s done, I’ll be in the showers. It’s been half an hour since practice ended so most of the team already left. I’d stay in the shower until I’m the only one left, then hide until the school in completely empty.”

Donghyuck nodded as he took in the information. After a second, he removes his eyes from where it was glued to a spot on the field, turning to Mark. “You didn’t answer my other question.”

“What?” Mark asked, another bite of his burger inside his mouth.

Donghyuck’s lip twitched upwards at the sight. “Do you eat dinner?”

“Ah.” Mark deadpanned. Donghyuck took a bite of his burger as Mark answered. “Ever since I ran out, no. I couldn’t really afford to leave the school since sneaking in is tedious.”

Donghyuck snickered at the comment and the look Mark gave him, but let Mark continue. “But I have breakfast and lunch, so it’s fine.”

“It’s a good thing I have burgers, then.” Donghyuck smiled as he started to open another burger for Mark. He had only eaten half of his and Mark was on his last bite, but Donghyuck was a slow eater.

“Jaehyun thinks we’re seeing each other.” Mark doesn’t know what compelled him to say that. He just thought that he should, as Donghyuck was handing him his second burger and their fingers brushed as he took it.

Donghyuck looks at Mark blankly before breaking out into a chortle and taking his burger back in his hand.

“That’s funny. Jaemin, too.” Donghyuck said, a lot more lax that Mark thought he’d be. He’d forgotten about Jaemin’s questions earlier but Mark’s comment made him recall his friend’s teasing grins.

He shook his head as he bit on the burger. “I don’t know why they think that.”

“Me, too.” Donghyuck mused as he chewed on the last bite of his burger. He didn’t think that Jaehyun had a personality like Jaemin’s but if he was thinking like Jaemin then he might as well.

He didn’t think he’d willingly be at school at 6 pm, either, but here he was, sharing burgers and milkshakes with someone he also didn’t think he’d ever be alone with, talking about how their friends thought they were more than just friends.

A moment of silence passes between them before they meet eyes, both still with food in their mouth. They wrinkle their noses simultaneously, their lips curling tugging into surly smiles before they burst out laughing. Donghyuck places a hand on top of his mouth in fear that he’d spit his food out whilst Mark just swallows as much as he can, their laughs growing loud.

They weren’t sure what was funny, but once they started to laugh, they couldn’t stop. The idea wasn’t offending to them, it was simply absurd at the moment. Mark put his burger down on his lap to prevent himself from dropping it, slowly losing air to breathe as he laughed with Donghyuck.

“This is our second date, then.” Donghyuck laughed as he and Mark shared a look and burst into a second fit of chortles.

“Well, this certainly isn’t what some people would call a date.” Mark replied between laughs. His laughing didn’t allow him to say that if he was going on a date, he’d aim fairly higher than vending machine coffee and cheeseburgers.

“Well, we’re not some people.” Donghyuck shrugged, grabbing one of the milkshakes. He raises a brow at Mark. “You certainly aren’t.”

Mark laughed again, deciding not to argue with Donghyuck anymore. Donghyuck took a sip of his milkshake before extending his arm to Mark, shaking the paper cup in his hand as he raised an eyebrow at Mark’s questioning eyes.

“I told you to wash it down with milkshake.” Donghyuck said as if it was an admonishment. He pushed it closer to Mark, offering him a sip.

Like a lot of people, Mark wasn’t one to refuse Donghyuck, so he takes a sip from Donghyuck’s milkshake. He takes the straw into his mouth, taking a gulp of the drink. The milkshake was a little warm, like Donghyuck had said, but it didn’t make the drink less tasty. It wasn’t too sweet, which Mark was thankful for because he didn’t want the taste of the burger and the taste of the milkshake overpowering each other. When Mark’s lips let go of the straw, Donghyuck takes another sip, a mischievous glint passing through his eyes.

“Now that’s we’ve kissed,” Donghyuck declared as he placed the cup down, ignoring the incredulous look Mark was sporting. “we’re boyfriends now.”

Mark looks at Donghyuck, who was challenging him to argue, but before Mark could get a word out, the two of them burst into a third fit of laughs. Mark leans against Donghyuck’s leg for support, holding on to his opposite knee. He can feel Donghyuck shaking from laughter and he knows that he was the same.

“At least we didn’t kiss on our first date.” Mark jested as he placed his chin on top of Donghyuck’s knee.

Donghyuck nodded, looking down at him and tapping his nose playfully. “Well, that’s because I don’t kiss on the first date.”

Mark wasn’t sure why he was so comfortable around Donghyuck, but he didn’t need to think about it to know that he liked it. At first, he’d thought that he’d have a hard time convincing Donghyuck to keep his secret but instead he was having a hard time keeping himself closed off around the boy, unlike how his personality went. Donghyuck knew this, and he was happy that Mark was letting him in.

They share another laugh, not realizing that they were the only ones left inside school premises and that the sun had just finished setting.


	5. Chapter 5

It takes Donghyuck another cheeseburger and Mark another two before they realize how dark it’s gotten. Their milkshakes have already been downed, both shared instead of drank individually, but neither acknowledged that fact as they passed the drink between each other and chatted.

“Don’t you think you should be getting home?” Mark asked as he and Donghyuck looked up at the night sky. There were still a couple of cheeseburgers in the bag next to Mark, but they were already too full to take another bite. Both boys have already dismissed the fact that their friends didn’t bother to say goodbye to them before leaving, figuring it wasn’t a big deal and that they weren’t entitled to tell them when they were heading home.

Even if Jaehyun and Jaemin went to bid farewell, the two boys would find their friends too busy in each other to pay attention to them.

They were alone in campus now, seated at the bleachers with burger wrappers tossed near them. The doors were locked, but Mark always had a back-up plan. Like Donghyuck did the night before, Mark always has a window opened in case he needed to sneak inside school after hours.

He pushed away the disappointment that bubbled in his chest at the thought of Donghyuck going home. He didn’t want to be alone in the big school again, but he also didn’t want for Donghyuck to stay out late again, especially if it’s for his sake.

Donghyuck shook his head. “I already texted my mom that I’ll be home late.”

“Mn.” Mark hummed, nodding curtly. It was a sign that he didn’t speak unless he needed to, but it was the first time Donghyuck remembered that the boy he was spending time with liked to keep to himself. He found this Mark as endearing as the Mark that gobbled up burgers without a care in the world and the Mark that’s covered in chalk dust from head to toe.

Remembering that Mark still hasn’t cleaned up after practice, Donghyuck turns to Mark. “Don’t you have to shower? You might get sick if you don’t.”

He didn’t know how Mark’s body worked, but he knew that Jaemin had to take a shower whenever he gets sweaty or else he’d run a fever the next day. He was a high-maintenance boy, it’s a wonder how Jeno keeps up with all the care and pampering Jaemin constantly needs.

Mark glances at Donghyuck before back at the sky, waving a hand in dismissal. “I don’t get sick easily. It’s fine.”

Playfully, Donghyuck wrinkles his nose. “You do get stinky, though.”

Mark scoffs, turning to Donghyuck fully and smacking the boy’s knee. “How dare you?! I _don’t_ get stinky.”

He crinkles his nose even more. “Are you sure? I really think you need a shower.”

He laughs at the faux offence on Mark’s features, playfully wincing when Mark lifts his hand again to hit him. Mark’s brow twitches at an idea, quickly dropping his hand and moving in his seat so that he was directly in front of Donghyuck instead of slightly to his right.

“But Hyuckie, I’m not even that sweaty.” Mark cooed as he wrapped his arms around Donghyuck’s calves and placed his chin between Donghyuck’s knees. Mark’s sweat had dried off somewhere between his second and third burger, which concerned Donghyuck for a moment because he was sure that Mark was going to start running a fever like Jaemin would, but he held his tongue. Now, Mark was just sticky and stinky from hours of soccer practice.

“Mark! No!” Donghyuck laughed as he tried to pry his legs away from Mark. He was wearing jeans so Mark’s skin wasn’t touching his, but Donghyuck could still feel the almost overbearing warmth that Mark radiated because of dried sweat.

“Shower!” Donghyuck said as Mark tightened his hold on him.

Mark shook his head, laughing. “But I want to spend more time with Hyuckie.”

The name does something to Donghyuck. It wasn’t an exclusive name, everyone called him that, but hearing it with Mark’s voice did something Donghyuck was yet to start looking for an explanation for.

Donghyuck groans, giving up. He already felt his calves start to itch— it was his own tendency to be high-maintenance, he knew that he wasn’t dirty but he still felt sticky just from a sticky Mark clinging to his legs.

“I’m not going to leave.” Donghyuck pouted and crossed his arms, letting out a small huff for extra effect. “But you have to _shower_.”

Mark laughed, and for a moment Donghyuck thought that his mignon behaviour worked, but then he looked at Mark, and remembered that Mark wasn’t like his other friends, who would relent just because of a pout. He needed a little more convincing and a lot more teasing before he was wrapped around anyone’s finger. Donghyuck huffed again, keeping the pout and stomping his feet as best he could with Mark’s arms still tightly wound around his calves. “You’ll get sick!”

Mark saw the genuine concern in Donghyuck’s eyes despite it being masked by the boy’s innately playful and teasing expression. He huffed, obviously copying Donghyuck, before letting go of his calves and ruffling his hair through his beanie. “Fine, fine. I’ll shower.”

The corners of Donghyuck’s lips tugged upwards. Partly because he got Mark to take a shower and wash off all the sweat that dried off and all the soreness from the day, and partly because he was anticipating the return of the peppermint scent Mark carried. It faded through the day, petered down to a slight waft that Donghyuck had to concentrate on looking for instead of the scent willingly coming to him.

Mark stands up, stretching his arms as he twisted his upper body. Donghyuck eyed the way Mark’s muscles contracted, just the slightest that he was incidentally close enough to see. If Mark’s arms looked like that, he wasn’t going to imagine what soccer did to his legs.

Mark glanced at Donghyuck, arms still stretched out in front of him, and Donghyuck purses his lips when he feels his cheeks heat up at the fact that he was caught staring. But Mark didn’t notice the staring, no matter what the glint in his eyes told Donghyuck, and simply let his arms fall to his sides.

“I wanna see something.” Mark said as he raised his foot and walked up the bleachers to stand in front of Donghyuck.

Donghyuck looks at Mark questioningly, half-expecting Mark to tease him about his staring. Mark chuckles and reaches for Donghyuck’s wrist and tugs him closer. Donghyuck’s eyes widen at the sudden proximity, reflexively leaning back before the tip of his nose touched Mark’s.

Donghyuck’s heart was beating incessantly, not knowing what was happening. He had a breath caught in his throat and he was sure that he’d choke on it if he wasn’t overly focused on the way Mark’s hand was on his wrist and Mark pulled him close and Mark was standing so close and Mark, Mark, Mark.

Mark uses his other hand to place on Donghyuck’s nape, pulling his face closer so that he was standing properly. He chuckled softly. “Donghyuck, relax.”

Donghyuck searches Mark’s eyes. Their noses are barely a hand apart and the hand on his nape was both calming and exhilarating his nerves. He can hear his heart beating in his ears and the sound only makes his breathing unstable. He attempts to gulp down the feeling, but it was no use when Mark’s dark eyes were staring at him fixatedly.

And then it’s quiet. Mark’s eyes leave Donghyuck’s as he looks up, tilting his head slightly. He looked as if he was inspecting something and Donghyuck had no idea what.

Mark lets out an exhale in lieu of a laugh. He lets go of Donghyuck’s nape as he lowers his gaze back to Donghyuck’s.

“We’re the same height.” he notes as he steps back, giving Donghyuck enough space to take in a breath without fear of choking on air.

He schools his expression into a scowl as he lifts his free hand and lands a punch on the boy’s shoulder. “Warn me next time!”

He thought a scowl and a punch as better than a blush and stuttered words, but the continued raging of his heart told him that no matter how he reacted, the effect was all the same.

Mark wasn’t going for a kiss. Why would Mark be going for a kiss?

Mark laughs and Donghyuck’s scowl deepens. How can Mark laugh after he practically puts Donghyuck into cardiac arrest? It was unfair, how easy Mark got Donghyuck flustered without doing anything. And if Donghyuck did have the same effect on Mark, it was unfair how Mark was able to hide it without batting an eye.

“Go take your shower, ghost boy!” Donghyuck said as he makes a move to cross his arms, only to realize that Mark was still holding on to his wrist. With a small pout, he shakes his arm, telling Mark to let go but the boy only shakes his head and sticks his tongue out.

“No.” he says childishly as he tightens his grip on Donghyuck’s wrist. The grip was tight but not painful and Donghyuck felt the tips of his ears burn at the contact.

“Mark, let go.” Donghyuck whined as he dropped to the seat behind him, still shaking his arm.

Mark watches Donghyuck whine for seconds more before he laughs and lets go of the younger’s wrist. Donghyuck crosses his arms at Mark, pout still on his face, but Mark pays no mind to him. Instead, he passes Donghyuck and picks up their trash, placing it inside the paper bag that the milkshakes were in before taking Donghyuck’s school bag and slinging the straps over his shoulders and taking the two paper bags in his hands— one with their trash and the other with the leftover cheeseburgers.

“I can carry my stuff, you know.” Donghyuck feigned a nasally voice as he stuck his nose in the air, pushing away the reminder that his nose almost touched Mark’s a few minutes ago.

“Let’s go.” Mark simply said as he made his way down the bleachers. “I’ll buy you a coffee whilst you wait for me in the shower.”

Donghyuck takes another moment to collect himself, willing his damned heart to get a grip before he stands form his seat and follows Mark into the window he left open so that they could sneak inside.

Donghyuck was easily getting used to sneaking inside school, though he never thought he’d ever be able to do it, much less want to. All his life, he’d rather not enter school premises, but if Mark was in school, then it wouldn’t be so bad.

Being alone in school with Mark was way better than walking around crowded hallways and sitting in boring classes.

“You owe me a coffee.” Donghyuck said in the same nasally voice he used earlier. His earlier consternation has been forgotten after Mark helped him hop over the window sill despite both of them knowing full well that Donghyuck was fully-capable of doing it by himself. He wasn’t one to shy away from friendly gestures, and so took the hand Mark offered him after he dropped the paper bag of trash on the floor.

“Let’s drop by the cafeteria first, then.” Mark says with a shrug. Donghyuck skips once, humming in delight at the thought of free coffee. Mark smiles at the boy walking two steps ahead of him, his hand clenching around the paper bag he held in remembrance of how he held Donghyuck’s wrist twice.

His heartbeat picks up at the memory of how close he’d pulled Donghyuck to him. He didn’t expect the tug to be as strong as it was but he didn’t want to step away just yet. He liked having Donghyuck’s company, and he realized that he liked having Donghyuck as close as possible.

He doesn’t know why he felt the sudden urge to check their heights. He remembers a memory from hours ago questioning their height difference but he knew asking Donghyuck was easier. Maybe he was still feeling a little playful from holding on to Donghyuck’s calves or maybe he really just wanted to pull Donghyuck closer for any reason at all.

“Coffee, coffee!” Donghyuck’s cheers as he slipped inside the cafeteria brought Mark out of his thoughts. He shook his head at the younger’s behaviour as he followed after him, tossing their trash in the bin next to the vending machine.

Donghyuck was sitting on one of the first tables in the cafeteria, aimlessly scrolling through his notifications. Mark shook his head, easily concluding that Donghyuck was as spoiled as he knew of him from afar. He was mildly surprised to find that he wasn’t bothered being wrapped around Donghyuck’s finger like most others are.

He could see why people often gave Donghyuck his way. He didn’t gloat at the pampering— not excessively— and there was a charming twinkle in his eyes when he gets what he wants. It’s like he doesn’t know that he was coddled, and Mark found that endearing.

If it got Donghyuck to smile, then spoiling him was worth it.

He takes the two drinks in one hand, walking over to where Donghyuck was seated and giggling to himself as he read through a group text.

“Here’s your coffee, sir.” Mark says as he places the drinks on Donghyuck’s temple, startling the boy with the cold feeling on his skin.

Donghyuck beams and Mark places the cans and the burgers on top of the table. “Thanks.”

“I’ll go shower now. You’ll stay here?” Mark asked as he slipped Donghyuck’s bag off his shoulders and placed it next to Donghyuck.

Donghyuck nodded. “I’ll wait for you.”

Mark nodded and ambled out of the cafeteria and to the boys’ locker room to take his things with him to the shower.

He hummed to himself as he let the water cascade down his skin as he lathered his peppermint shampoo on his hair. He’s been in this set-up for weeks but never felt as at home as he did now, when he knows there was someone waiting for him to finish his shower.

He liked company despite his quiet attitude. He liked hearing people talk and listening to what they had to say. That was why he fit well with his friends. He humoured their stories and listened to their bickering and they never forced him to take part in conversations when it was clear he would rather listen than speak.

Donghyuck was like that, too, in a way. He was a new face, someone that Mark has not heard the thoughts of. And whilst he got Mark to speak more than he usually would, Donghyuck still carried most of the conversation.

Mark steps out of the shower room after he’s done, passing his towel through his hair with both hands.to dry the damp strands. He wasn’t used to walking around without a beanie on except for in his room but he was already accustomed to walking around school at night without his beanie, if only until his hair dries after a shower.

He leaves his dirty clothes in the shower room, deciding that he needed to do laundry during the weekend, before making his way back to the cafeteria to find Donghyuck the way he left him— sitting on a lunch table with two cans of coffee and a bag of cheeseburgers in front of him and his school bag placed on his side as he giggled and texted on his phone.

Mark leaned against the side of the vending machine, arms crossed and towel limp on top of his head as he watches Donghyuck with a fond smile. He’s still trying to separate the image of Donghyuck he unknowingly conjured up over the years, supplied by mindless hearsay and the limited interactions they’ve had until yesterday and the image of Donghyuck he was seeing now, now that he was closer and saw more than passers-by do.

The two images weren’t completely different from each other but there were still some subtle distinctions that were pleasantly surprising to him. Like the way he thought Donghyuck’s spoiled attitude was overbearing but it really was endearing, or like how Donghyuck seemed snarky but he was just quirky.

Donghyuck is a pleasant surprise.

With a silent chuckle, Mark pushes himself off the side of the vending machine and ambles to the lunch table where Donghyuck was sat at.

“You haven’t opened your coffee.” Mark noted as he sat down, Donghyuck’s school bag in between them.

Donghyuck looks up from his phone, still laughing slightly, and smiles at Mark. “I was waiting for you. They’re not as cold now, though.”

“It’s fine.” Mark says as he lets Donghyuck go back to his texting and he takes it upon himself to open the two cans of coffee. The telltale click of the top lids of the cans makes Donghyuck look up again; watching as Mark carefully pushed one of the coffee cans closer to him before taking a sip of his own in the other can of coffee.

“Thanks.” Donghyuck said before bringing the can to his lips to take a sip.

“What’s got you laughing so much?” Mark asked. He set the can on the table and propped his upper arm on the table, raising his forearm so that he could rest his head on his fist and look at Donghyuck.

Donghyuck laughed as he took another sip of coffee. He places his drink next to Mark’s before taking his phone, showing Mark the screen for a second before chuckling again. “Jeno and Jaemin have been flooding our group chat for hours. Chenle riled them up during lunch and now they’re planning to pack up and live together, or something like that. Jisung and Renjun are trying to stop them and Chenle and I are encouraging them, but the four of us know that’s not going to happen.”

Mark chuckles at the way Donghyuck talks about his friends. Regardless of Donghyuck’s cynical quirks, it was undeniable that Donghyuck cared for his friends and was as involved as he can be in their affairs. He was playful and teasing and held the people he cares about closely to him.

Mark recalls a similar conversation he and his friends had earlier. His smile tugs into a smirk at the realization that he and Donghyuck’s friends weren’t dissimilar.

“Lucas was throwing a fit earlier, too.” Mark says with a laugh. “Johnny and Jaehyun were talking him out of moving in with his boyfriend and I was saying he wouldn’t have the guts to ask for at least another year.”

Donghyuck’s eyes crinkled at the story, a flit of curiosity passing through his expression. “I didn’t know Lucas had a boyfriend.”

Mark nodded. “He does. We met Jungwoo through Ten, Johnny’s childhood friend and boyfriend, a few years ago. They’ve been dating for a while now, but I know Lucas won’t be able to ask Jungwoo so easily. He’s shy like that.”

“I didn’t think Lucas can be shy.” Donghyuck laughed. He was well-acquainted with Lucas, able to joke around with the other in their shares classes. “He’s always so energetic and stuff.”

Mark shrugged. “Eh. I thought so, too, until Jungwoo came along.”

Donghyuck nodded in understanding, a sweet smile still on his face. “I guess love really does bring out the unexpected.”

Mark hummed, agreeing. He’s read enough novels to know that Donghyuck was right. He’s seen it with Lucas and with Johnny, sometimes with Jaehyun.

“I didn’t know you had so many friends, though.” Donghyuck laughed next. “I thought it was Jaehyun, Lucas, and Johnny. And then that’s it.”

Mark laughed, taking no offence to the statement. “I get along well with Ten and Jungwoo, they’re pretty cool. Taeyong is, too, when you get to know him.”

Donghyuck’s brow twitches at the name. He pouts, small and reserved, but the humour is still visible. “Taeyong?”

It was obvious that Donghyuck was wary of Taeyong. The younger felt like he wouldn’t get along well with the older, since Taeyong stuck by the rules, mainly because it was his job to uphold them, and Donghyuck wanted nothing to do with someone who had enough authority to give him detention.

Taeyong’s image wasn’t exactly the warmest, either. He was responsible and mature with no time for games. He was approachable, but students would have to second-guess themselves first before making their way to the Student Council President.

But Mark knew Taeyong was more than an ice prince. He can get as shy as Lucas was, and that only proved that love really did bring out the unexpected, as far as Taeyong’s unconfirmed crush on Jaehyun went. If Taeyong really did return Jaehyun’s infatuation then Mark was simply waiting for the nudge that would push the two together.

Mark laughs at the reaction, lifting his head from his fist so that he can take a sip of coffee. “He looks scary but he really isn’t. I like to think that Taeyong and I have the same personality.”

Donghyuck’s nose crinkles as he observes Mark. He shakes his head. “I don’t think that’s true.”

Mark was adorable and aloof and fun. He was quiet, yes, but when he opens up like this, Donghyuck knows that his voice can lull him to sleep. Taeyong was cold and strict, being the Student Council President, he had responsibilities that took time away from being irresponsible.

Mark shrugged again. “It is. I don’t hang out with him a lot but when we talk, it’s about books. He likes to read like me.”

Donghyuck nodded. He’s noticed times when Taeyong would have a book kept under his textbooks and notebooks, but doesn’t remember a time when he saw Taeyong with his nose under a novel. Taeyong may like to read but he wasn’t as much of a bookworm as Mark was, who couldn’t last an hour without reading a paragraph.

“So that’s three more people in your inner circle.” Donghyuck concluded simply.

Mark lifted his coffee can, clinking it with Donghyuck’s before bringing it up to his lips. “You’re in my inner circle, too.”

Donghyuck feels his ears heat up again as he watches Mark tilt the can up so that he could take a gulp of coffee. He smiles, raising his own can and tapping it with Mark’s when the older was finished drinking.

“Good, because you’re in mine now, too.”

Mark looked at him and smiled, feeling his chest warm at Donghyuck’s words.

He liked the thought of being in Donghyuck’s inner circle.

When Donghyuck gets home, he goes straight to his room after he sees that his parents and sister have already retired for the night. He didn’t stay with Mark as late as he did last night; it was barely 10 when Donghyuck decided that Mark needed a good night’s sleep after soccer practice. He resisted the urge to tuck the older in bed, knowing that even _that_ was too friendly for him to do so soon.

He didn’t miss the small, barely-there pout that came from Mark when he bid goodbye. He was sure that even Mark wasn’t aware of his pout and that only made it more adorable. Donghyuck realized that no matter how closed off Mark was, he liked having someone’s company. He must be used to his hectic friend group and what Donghyuck can assume to be equally as rowdy older brothers always around him, so he rarely has any real time to be closed off.

He giggled as he flopped down onto his thick covers. Bunching up the comforter so that it gathered against his cheeks when he folded his arms under his head, Donghyuck giggled again.

He remembered Mark’s pout, the way his voice became higher by the tiniest bit in fondness as he told Donghyuck about his friends, the way his damp hair hovered above his brows and fell past his eyes when it dried.

He remembered how close Mark was when he checked their heights. Donghyuck had forgotten to either ask Mark about what brought on the sudden curiosity about their height differences or berate him for almost giving Donghyuck a heart attack.

He felt his ears heat up at the memory of their close proximity and Mark’s hand on his nape, softly squeezing to tell Donghyuck to relax. His heart was beating rapidly just by the memory of it.

Donghyuck bit on his comforter to muffle the squeal he wanted to let out as he kicked his feet in the air.

It was embarrassing that he was acting like this over someone he barely knew. A week ago, he and Mark wouldn’t exchanged more than half a glance with each other, and now he was thrashing around like the lovesick teenager he is because his heart was just damn annoying and wouldn’t stop beating so fast.

He knew it was silly, but he didn’t know how to fight the giddy feelings that lingered in his chest whenever he saw or thought of Mark.

Maybe he was starting to crush on Mark, he wasn’t sure, but it was a nice feeling.

Donghyuck brought a hand to his chest and rolled over to his back, clutching at the material of his shirt as he felt the strong heartbeats against his closed fist. He felt out of breath from nothing but Mark.

“I’m in trouble.” he whispered to himself as another giddy smile crept up his lips.


	6. Chapter 6

When Donghyuck gets to school early in the morning, he realized that he didn’t know where Mark’s first class was. He didn’t think any of it, deciding to peak inside all of the empty classrooms until he finds the one room where the older was. He passes the cafeteria after a few minutes of looking through the classrooms of the first floor and figured that it wouldn’t hurt to check if Mark was inside.

And he was. He was seated on the table he and Mark were at last night, giggling in the darkness. The lights were turned on now, probably by a janitor instead of Mark, and Mark was quietly scribbling on his notebook to finish homework. His back was turned to Donghyuck but that didn’t stop the warm flutter of butterflies in his chest as he took in the sight of Mark, freshly showered with the scent of peppermint dancing around him.

He’s suddenly reminded of how he was kicking and rolling last night at the thought of Mark. He felt his face warm but he didn’t mind. He liked having a crush on Mark, it was nice.

“Hey.” Donghyuck greets after an extra second of admiring his friend. He walks over to Mark and sits where he was last night. It was almost as if he never left at all and the two of them spent dusk until dawn together. Oh, how he wished.

“Hey.” Mark smiled as he looked up at Donghyuck. Maybe he was being a little overdramatic, but Donghyuck was sure that his heart skipped a beat when Mark smiled at him, still a little sleepy despite a cold shower (the school doesn’t seem to have warm water in the shower room). “Did you even sleep last night?”

 _Barely. I was too busy thinking of you._ Donghyuck thinks with a smile. He drapes his forearm over the table and bends his elbow so that he can rest his cheek on his fist, much like how Mark was seated last night. “A bit, yeah. Nothing a dose of coffee can’t remedy.”

Mark laughs softly and for the first time, Donghyuck notices the way his nose wrinkles a little when he laughs. It made him smile.

“I still have homework to finish.” Mark says as he motioned to the notebook in front of him.

Donghyuck nodded as he lifted his other hand and placed a paper bag with two large hot coffees inside. He dropped by a coffee shop on the way to school and bought two coffees. It was a different one from yesterday, thinking that his morning coffee runs would be a good excuse to scout the cafes around school. “Doesn’t mean we can’t have coffee.”

Mark chuckles again. He reaches inside the bag and takes out both of the hot coffees, setting the drinks between them. “Thanks for the coffee.”

“Think of it as a thank you for haunting the halls at night.” Donghyuck says teasingly. Mark blinks at him before he laughs again, shaking his head before taking hold of his pen and resuming with his homework.

“I thought haunting the halls was my rent.” Mark replied. He didn’t know why Donghyuck was insisting that he was a ghost when he was very much alive but he let the younger have his fun. It was a secret for only the both of them.

Donghyuck hummed. “No, that’s _cleaning_ the classrooms.”

“Is there a difference?” Mark asked, amused. He scratched out a word he misspelled.

Donghyuck thought for a second before he shook his head, a light laugh leaving his lips. “Not really. But let’s say there is.”

“If you say so, Hyuckie.” Mark humours. The nickname rolld off his tongue easily and Donghyuck smiles brightly when he hears his name said in Mark’s voice.

Donghyuck takes occasional sips of his coffee as he watches Mark in silence. He was trying to contemplate on whether or not harbouring a little crush on Mark was worth it. They were new friends and they still barely knew each other, but as dramatic as he was being, Donghyuck couldn’t deny that Mark made his heart go crazy and he wanted nothing more than to thread his fingers around Mark’s hair.

It was plain on baffling to Donghyuck on how he managed to gain a crush over less than a week, but he wasn’t complaining. He just had to keep it from Mark for as long as possible and everything will be okay.

Mark finds Donghyuck’s silence slightly suspicious. He expected the boy to tell a story and tease him some more, but there was nothing from his side.

Mark looks up from his notebook and sees Donghyuck stifling a yawn. He laughs, shaking his head again before turning back to his notebook.

“Hyuck, you should sleep. I’ll wake you up when I’m done.” Mark says as he scratches out the last words he’s written, not satisfied with his diction. It was still considerably early to be in school and Mark is sure that Donghyuck still isn’t used to waking up earlier than he usually did.

Usually Donghyuck would argue, simply for the sake of having something to say, but he knows that he’d kick himself for not taking an extra half hour of sleep when it was being offered to him.

“Okay, but if you finish my coffee, I’m burning the library.” Donghyuck relents as he folds his arms over the table to rest his head against it, closing his eyes and not sparing Mark a glance to see his reaction to the threat. He spoke as if his statement was soemthing he said at least once a week, which should be concerning to Mark but it wasn’t.

Mark doesn’t get to question Donghyuck’s threat as he watches Donghyuck close his eyes. He figured that it had something to do with Mark’s love of books, but Mark can never be too sure when it came to Donghyuck’s antics.

He shook his head at the boy as he suppressed a chuckle. He went back to his homework, deciding to take his time so that Donghyuck can have more time to sleep. If Donghyuck’s coffee becomes cold, he can ask for ice in the kitchen and make it an iced coffee, which he hoped Donghyuck was a fan of. He figured he was, since he was fond of the canned coffees in the vending machine.

It’s not long before Donghyuck falls asleep, and Mark glances at the boy, holding his pen under Donghyuck’s nose to check his breathing and see if he really was asleep.

He smiles when he sees that Donghyuck had fallen asleep easily. Mark felt bad for making Donghyuck come to school early, but a small part of him argued that even if Mark told Donghyuck he didn’t have to, Donghyuck would only shake his head and answer in that nasally voice he used when he was being annoying or stubborn.

Mark blinks himself back to reality when he realizes that he was staring. He takes his hand back from under Donghyuck’s nose, pressing the pen on the page of his notebook to continue writing. He was almost finished but he wanted to secure at least twenty minutes of a sleeping Donghyuck.

Five minutes later and Mark realizes that taking his time won’t be a problem when he finds himself staring at a sleeping Donghyuck for the second time already.

He didn’t even know when he started staring. He blinked and he wasn’t looking at his notebook anymore but instead at the sleeping boy next to him. Mark promised that he’d wake him up but seeing him now, he wasn’t sure if he had the heart to break the boy away from his sleep.

He looked so soft and cuddly when he was asleep and the only thing Mark didn’t like about Donghyuck sleeping was that Mark couldn’t see Donghyuck’s dark eyes and the way they turned into crescents when he smiled.

He purses his lips in embarrassment. He didn’t know why he was embarrassed since he was the only one here to see him making a fool of himself. He tears his eyes away from Donghyuck, forcing himself to finish his work without sparing Donghyuck another glance in fear of staring at him again.

He finishes his coffee quickly, taking a gulp every time he felt the urge to glance at Donghyuck.

Mark finished his homework and woke Donghyuck up by tapping his nose with the pen. Donghyuck stirs but doesn’t wake, so Mark taps his nose again, this time a little less gently.

Donghyuck’s lips tug into a small scowl, not fond of being woken up. He raises a hand and grips the pen, eyes still closed and brows furrowed in irritance.

“Yeonhyuck, I will break your wrist.” he whispers under his breath.

Mark laughs and that’s when the crease in Donghyuck’s brows soften and abruptly opens his eyes. He pursed his lips in embarrassment and sits properly, still holding the pen.

“Mark, I—“ before Donghyuck could go on about his aggressive attitude, Mark laughs again, effectively cutting Donghyuck off as the boy ends up listening to the sound, pleased that the first thing he hears when he wakes up is Mark’s laugh.

Mark tugs the pen away from Donghyuck’s hold and taps Donghyuck’s nose again, which wrinkles cutely under the touch. “You’re aggressive when you’re sleepy.”

Mark taps Donghyuck’s nose again after it relaxes, only because he couldn’t stop himself. Donghyuck huffs, voice nasally as he spoke. “I wonder why I’m so sleepy these days.”

Mark juts his lower lip out as he narrows his eyes. “Well, no one is forcing you.”

Mark knows that Donghyuck was only teasing but he still made sure to lace his tone with the slightest of sincerities to let the younger know that it was okay if he decided that he can’t change his routine for Mark. Donghyuck hears it and decides to put Mark at ease.

Donghyuck laughs and wraps his hands around Mark’s forearm, bringing him closer in the process. “Yeah, but I want to. So the least you can do is not call me aggressive.”

“But you’re aggressive.” Mark comments and laughs at Donghyuck’s pout. “Aggressive is cute.”

“You’re weird.” Donghyuck concludes. He ignored the blush blooming on his cheeks when he realized that Mark indirectly called him cute. Maybe he should be snarkier from now on.

Mark tilts his head at Donghyuck, almond eyes blinking at him innocently and Donghyuck doesn’t miss the way his heart drums in his chest for a quick second. “You don’t like weird?”

Donghyuck knows that Mark was only teasing. He had a feeling that Mark was trying to get him to say something. Whether or not Donghyuck was going to let Mark have his way was up to him.

And Donghyuck was always extra. He pulls Mark closer by the arm, placing his chin on Mark’s shoulder so that their faces were closer than they were yesterday at the bleachers, and juts his lower lip out again.

“I like you, though. Is that enough?” Donghyuck stifles a smile when he feels Mark’s sharp inhale. He feels his own heart hammering against his rib cage as if it wanted to come out and show Mark that he wasn’t lying. Donghyuck tried his best to swallow it down, desperately convincing himself that he was teasing Mark and not confessing to him.

It was too early to confess, if Donghyuck had the guts to do it at all.

Mark’s eyes narrow again as he lifts his hand to ruffle Donghyuck’s hair, pushing him away in the process. Donghyuck whines at the barely rough treatment, peeling himself away from Mark voluntarily.

Mark tries to scowl at Donghyuck to somehow make up for the weird flips his stomache was doing because of Donghyuck’s words. He wasn’t used to someone flirting with him. The only other person cheeky enough to do so was Lucas, and when he and Jungwoo got together, he stopped completely, joking that Mark wasn’t worthy of his affection anymore. To say that Mark owed Jungwoo gratitude was not a lie.

But Lucas’s friendly flirting and Donghyuck’s playful teasing were different. With Lucas, he can scowl at the older without any remorse, but with Donghyuck, he couldn’t bring himself to frown for long when the flutter in his chest was too distracting.

He takes advantage of the distance between him and Donghyuck, a small part of him telling him that it was short-lived and that he should make the most of it. Donghyuck had proves several times that he liked physical touch and Mark had surprised himself multiple times when he let Donghyuck cling to him when he would have pried himself away if it were anyone else.

He reaches out for Donghyuck’s coffee, already lukewarm but only a third consumed. He stands, the paper cup in his hand.

“I’ll get some ice for your coffee. It wouldn’t taste good when it’s room temperature.” he says as he sidles the table, looking to Donghyuck for approval. “Do you want me to add sugar, too? Or milk?”

Donghyuck places his elbows on the table, tucking his chin between curled fingers. He smiles brightly, despite only having woken up. “I didn’t know you were so sweet, ghost boy.”

Mark rolls his eyes at the nickname, turning around and making his way to the kitchen to get ice for Donghyuck’s coffee.

“A spoonful of sugar!” Donghyuck yells from behind him and Mark smiles at the voice.

Once Mark was a handful of meters away, Donghyuck pushes himself off the table, clutching his chest and taking deep breaths. His other hand cupped his cheek, checking if his cheeks were as warm as he thought his ears were.

He was sure that he was being overdramatic but crushing on Mark was taking a toll on him and it’s only been a day.

Mark comes back and gives Donghyuck his coffee, and just as Donghyuck takes it, they realize that they only had half an hour until classes start.

“Are you sure I only slept for half an hour?” Donghyuck wonders as he wraps his fingers around the now iced coffee.

“More or less? Homework took longer than I thought.” Mark shrugs. “I’ll walk you to your room. It’s on the way to mine.”

“How do you know my class?” Donghyuck asks with a suspicious raise of an eyebrow.

Mark looks taken aback for half a second before he smiles and taps Donghyuck’s nose with his pen again, which he was in the middle of tucking away in his backpack. “You share that class with Johnny.”

“Oh.” Donghyuck says, chuckling at his ignorance.

They make their way out of the cafeteria and before they can take a step towards the hall, Donghyuck gasps. He looks at Mark’s questioning expression. “I have to get something from my locker. It’s a bit farther down the hall.”

“Let’s go, then.” Mark smiled warmly as he adjusted his beanie.

Whilst they’re walking, Donghyuck takes a sip of the now-iced coffee and hums at the taste. It wasn’t any different, just cold, but his mind decided that it was stupid delicious because it was Mark who added ice.

“You should taste your creation.” he said as he stretched his arm towards the boy walking next to him.

“I only added ice and sugar.” Mark laughed but taking the cup from Donghyuck.

Donghyuck shrugged nonchalantly. “Well, it tastes different.”

Mark chuckles and tips the cup to take a sip, letting the cold drink stay in his mouth for a second before swallowing. It tasted the same but Donghyuck’s enthusiasm made him think otherwise.

They walk in silence. The halls are already buzzing with life, not too much but enough to know that the day was about to start. Mark looks around in silence, falling into his natural habit of observing his surroundings. Donghyuck lets him, remembering that Mark was a man of few words.

He sneaks glances at Mark, wanting to see where he was looking. He wanted to know what made Mark look at one thing and one person and wanted to know what he saw that was noteworthy. It wasn’t long and he was playing a game with himself, trying to see if he can see the world in Mark’s eyes.

When they reach Donghyuck’s locker, Donghyuck looks through it to search for the notebook he needed for his second class. He didn’t have time between his first and second class to take it, so he better do it now or not at all.

He finds it and tucks it inside his bag. He realizes that he was missing a presence around him and when he looks around to check, Mark was nowhere in sight. Donghyuck looks around confused, trying to remember if Mark excused himself to go somewhere.

He looks around and closes his locker, and then someone taps his shoulder. It’s Mark, holding the iced coffee he forgot to take back from Mark.

“Where’d you go?” Donghyuck asked, nonplussed. He accepts the ice coffee when Mark gives it back to him, noting that it didn’t feel lighter, which meant Mark didn’t take any unauthorized sips of his drink.

 _He must really love the library_. Donghyuck thinks amusedly.

“I just dropped my bag in the classroom.” Mark points to the room next to the one across Donghyuck’s locker.

“You know, you can go in now.” Donghyuck says. Maybe Mark wanted to bid him farewell so he went back out. “I’ll see you around?”

“Yeah, but I said I’ll walk you to your room.” Mark says as he tugs on Donghyuck’s backpack. Donghyuck’s brows furrow at the action, his confusion letting Mark carefully slide the bag’s straps off his shoulders without tipping the coffee cup in Donghyuck’s hand.

“What are you—“ Donghyuck’s question is cut off when Mark narrows his eyes at him, challenging him to argue.

“Let me carry your bag.” Mark says, and Donghyuck is suddenly reminded of how casually Mark took his bag yesterday before they entered the school. He feels his ears go warm so he tilts his head to the side and uses his free hand to tug on his ear, thinking that he can disguise the redness as the aftermath of his pinching.

“Uh, okay, then.” Donghyuck mumbled as he pulled on his other ear.

Mark found the action weird but decided not to question it. Donghyuck was as weird as he was sometimes and it only made the younger adorable.

They start walking to Donghyuck’s first class, which is a few halls away from Mark’s, in the middle of his locker and the cafeteria. He began to think if he should have insisted that Mark go inside his classroom instead of letting him walk him to his classroom.

He pinches his ear again after taking a sip of his coffee. Wincing slightly at how hard he tugged on the skin. He’ll take it as punishment for making Mark walk back and forth for the sake of spending a little more time with him.

Donghyuck suddenly feels slightly guilty that he’s making Mark walk back and forth. He doesn’t get to dwell on it, though, as an arm is draped over his shoulders and he looks to the side opposite to Mark to see a smiling Jeno next to him.

“Good morning.” Jeno greets as he looks at Donghyuck and passes a glance at Mark, his eyes lingering on the bag Mark had on his bag before back to Donghyuck. He instantly recognizes it as Donghyuck’s bag, having been forced to carry it a handful of times in the future.

Mark doesn’t look like he was played to carry Donghyuck’s things, though, unlike how Jeno ended up carrying Donghyuck’s things. If anything, Donghyuck looked like the bag was pried from him, which Jeno thought Donghyuck was trying to tell him when they locked eyes after Jeno saw his bag.

At the back of his mind, Donghyuck can see Jaemin’s teasing grin, ready to tease Donghyuck about Mark being too much of a gentleman, too out of character for the closed-off and reserved boy he’s always been. At the back of his mind, Donghyuck argued that if Mark acted like this all the time, then maybe he’d have been crushing on the older for years now.

Or maybe Mark was always like this and he just didn’t see, which made him feel stupid because how could he let such a perfect boy walk around under his nose for so long.

Donghyuck remembers where he is when Mark takes hold of his arm to keep him from walking into a pair of students that stepped out of their classroom. He shoots Mark a thankful smile before turning back to Jeno.

“Hey.” Donghyuck smiles before tilting his coffee cup to Mark, successfully ignoring the mental Jaemin. “You know Mark, right?”

Mark nods at Jeno in acknowledgement and Jeno does the same. Donghyuck laughs softly at the awkward tension between the two. He and Mark used to be barely acquaintances, too. He’s going to try to make his friends warm up to Mark. After all, Mark was part of his inner circle now, and he knows he’d get along with his friends.

“You’re not with Jaemin?” Donghyuck asked his friend, not wanting to walk without conversation. He might have shoo-ed off a mental Jaemin but that didn’t mean that the real thing wasn’t going to pop in out of nowhere.

Jeno takes his arm away from Donghyuck’s shoulders when he was sure Donghyuck wasn’t going to remove it himself. He smiled that small smile that Donghyuck has only ever seen on Jeno when it came to Jaemin. “I just dropped him off.”

“Ah.” Donghyuck nods, taking a sip of his coffee. He smiled at the chilly drink, letting the cold linger in his tongue. The ice must be halfway melted by now and he was barely half of the drink.

Jeno turns to Mark, giving him a friendly smile. “So, Mark, how do you know Donghyuck?”

Donghyuck rolls his eyes at the question. “Jeno, Mark and I have shared classes for years.”

“That’s not what I mean.” Jeno laughed.

“We, uhh, just clicked.” Mark answered vaguely, speaking for the first time since he took Donghyuck’s bag. A ghost of a smile haunted his features and Donghyuck felt himself melt like the ice cubes in his coffee at the knowing look Mark gave him.

“Yeah.” Donghyuck nodded, voice airy. He still found it funny how he and Mark became friends. He’d take Mark Lee over an actual ghost any day.

“That sounds suspicious.” Jeno teases with narrowed eyes. Donghyuck rolls his own whilst Mark chuckles, the sound making Donghyuck want to pinch his ears again.

As if hearing his thoughts, Jeno notices the colour in Donghyuck’s ears. He reaches up and taps it gently. “What’s wrong with your ears, Hyuck?”

Mark looks to Donghyuck in question as well. He wanted to ask if Donghyuck’s ears were irritated but he was stopping himself from doing so. He trusted Donghyuck to tell him if there was anything wrong.

Donghyuck takes a sip of his coffee, using his free hand to pinch his ear again. “It’s itchy, that’s all.”

“Okay, then.” Jeno replies, clearly unconvinced.

Donghyuck shoots him a glare as he takes another gulp of his drink and Jeno laughs.

They reach Donghyuck’s classroom and he recalls that he and Jeno shared this class. Donghyuck’s school bag slides off Mark’s arms and Donghyuck takes it, giving Mark another bright smile. “Thanks. Do you want to say ‘hi’ to Johnny? He should be here by now.”

Mark chuckled as he shook his head. “No, that’s fine. I’ll see him at lunch.”

“Okay, if you say so.” Donghyuck said. He slipped his bag through on arm, knowing he’d throw it on the floor once he entered the classroom, anyway.

“I’ll see you later?” Mark’s lips tugged upwards in a reserved smile. His hands slip inside his front pockets with only his thumbs over the denim. His shoulders raise in question and Donghyuck can’t deny that he found the sight incredibly attractive.

Donghyuck nodded, half airily. “Yeah.”

Mark takes steps backwards, his smile growing before he turns around and makes his way back to his classroom. Donghyuck waits until Mark was two classrooms away before turning to the door.

“So...” Jeno started when he saw that Donghyuck was back from his staring. Donghyuck didn’t even know that Jeno was still next to him. He thought that his friend entered the classroom as soon as they reached the door, but that was clearly not the case.

“Shut up.” Donghyuck answers him with a punch on the shoulder, stepping inside the classroom with a laughing Jeno two steps behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading!!! it means a lot *^^* you can go to my [ twitter ](https://twitter.com/markeu_tuan93) if you want to send me feedback hehe *^^*
> 
> kudos and comments are appreciated ahehe *^^*


	7. Chapter 7

Weeks pass and Donghyuck and Mark only seem to grow closer. It was a shock to many, since the two barely talked before, and now they giggled with each other in front of the vending machine as they fought over whose turn it was to buy coffee.

Their friends wouldn’t stop asking them about the sudden friendship, but for some reason both boys just waved the others off. They weren’t keeping anything secret aside from Mark’s living situation, but both boys got a kick out of the questioning glances their friends threw their way.

There would be days where they’d be locked away in the library for lunch, sipping on cans of iced-coffee. It would be Mark there first, not uncharacteristically ditching his friends for a quiet place to read, but when Donghyuck notices that the cafeteria lacks a certain beanie-wearing boy, he’d excuse himself from the table and saunter to the vending machine to stock up on coffee before skipping to the library to keep Mark company.

He’d lie down next to Mark, who’d be seated on the floor with his back pressed against the wall, and humming quietly to himself as he listened to the occasional turn of the page. It was quiet and gave Donghyuck time to think about whether or not he still had a crush on Mark. Unsurprisingly, he did.

One time, Mark’s hair wound itself in Donghyuck’s hair, and to say that the action didn’t make him blush would be a lie. He was practically palpitating from more than an unhealthy caffeine intake as his fingers threaded through his hair and he was praying that Mark was too focused on his book to realize how flustered he had gotten because of Donghyuck.

If Donghyuck’s friends or anyone else had caught up on Donghyuck’s uncontrollable crush on Mark, no one commented on it, aside from Jeno and Jaemin’s occasional teasing. This was mainly because half of the school population is deep into speculation that Mark and Donghyuck are together and are extremely lowkey about it, but either boy need not know that.

It’s not long before Donghyuck falls into the habit of cleaning up the school with Mark. Donghyuck thought of it as therapy to let go of the stress of the day. Whether it was cleaning classrooms or being with Mark that did the job, he was too prideful to know. If the rumours began to shift from one ghost roaming the halls to two, it didn’t matter to them.

“Thanks for helping again tonight.” Mark said as they finished with the last classroom of the night. Donghyuck noticed that they don’t go to every classroom, just the messier ones. If they went to every single classroom in the school, they’d be cleaning until midnight. Maybe because they end up messing up the classroom before actually cleaning it, but that was whatever.

“I usually finish around 11, but with you here, it’s faster.” Mark smiled as he opened the door for Donghyuck to pass through before him.

Donghyuck shrugged. “Two is better than one, right?”

The two begin to walk down the steps, on their way to the locker room. Mark already took a shower, much to Donghyuck’s confusion because now he was covered in dust again but he wasn’t going to question the older boy.

“Hey, do you like the stars?” Mark asks as they get to the locker room. They sit down on the pushed together benches and Mark takes out his school bad from under the benches. Donghyuck also took up the habit of pushing Mark’s makeshift bed together whilst the boy showers.

On some days, he’d smile at how oddly domestic they were being, but that was the crush talking. On other days, Donghyuck would sing to himself, like he often does, and then blush when Mark laughs from the shower room when he hears him singing.

He takes out a large pack of wet wipes and tugs Donghyuck closer. Donghyuck stops himself from rolling his eyes when he realizes that it was a new pack and that Mark most likely bought it earlier in the day.

“The stars?” Donghyuck repeats in question as he watches Mark open the pack and take out a wet wipe. He doesn’t know where Mark got the sudden curiosity, but he should be used to how random the boy can be sometimes by now.

He wordlessly lets Mark raise his arm to his face, gently rubbing the wet wipe across his forehead and temples. He doesn’t know how chalk had gotten there but he won’t question it. He and Mark ended up running around in some classrooms, so maybe that was it.

It’s become normal for Mark to clean Donghyuck up after he’s covered in chalk dusk. At first, Donghyuck would still squirm under the cold feeling of the wet wipes and the close proximity, which he thought was unnecessary but he wasn’t complaining.

Over the weeks, he’s stopped squirming, getting used to the fuzzy feelings Mark gives him when he wipes at his arms and face. His heart was still racing like a prized thoroughbred but he’s learned to live with the constant risk of heart failure because not even that can keep him away from Mark.

“Yeah, the stars.” Mark says with a nod and Donghyuck takes a moment to understand what Mark was saying. He tracks back to what he and Mark were talking about before he got distracted by Mark’s finger brushing the skin under his eye when Mark started to wipe his cheek clean of chalk.

Donghyuck takes a moment to think. He feels Mark’s gentle touch under the wet wipe and he doesn’t have to look up to know that Mark was looking at him just as gently.

“They’re pretty.” Donghyuck finally answers, slightly nonplussed.

Mark hums, moving to his other cheek. “So, you like them?”

Donghyuck nods as best he can whilst not disrupting Mark from his task. “Yeah. It’s not every night you can stargaze, so it’s nice when I get to.”

“Okay, then.” Mark answers. He places the wet wipe next to the pack and pulls out another one, dabbing at Donghyuck’s face for a second time for good measure.

Mark gets to Donghyuck’s nose, his fingers playfully pressing on the nose underneath the wet wipe. Donghyuck whines when he feels Mark squeezing his nose, already used to the boy’s fixation on his nose and how he’d poke or squeeze it any chance he gets, which wasn’t a lot.

“You know a lot about stars?” he asks after a short silence before discarding the wet wipe and pulling out another one, taking one of Donghyuck’s wrists and starting to clean his arm.

“No. They’re just pretty to look at. I don’t know shite about stars, though.” he giggled softly. The cold is almost ticklish to Donghyuck, and he stifles the small smile that fights its way to his features in lieu of a laugh.

“Me, too.” Mark laughed before pulling out another wet wipe and moving on to Donghyuck’s other arm. Donghyuck half-expects another question from Mark, but when the older doesn’t speak, Donghyuck is sure that he has something up his sleeve.

“Why do you ask?” Donghyuck wondered as Mark’s fingers brushed the back of his elbow. Donghyuck was ticklish, so he flinched when he felt Mark’s knuckles then the cold of the wet wipe on the sensitive skin.

Mark laughs at Donghyuck’s reaction. He’s gotten tired of teasing Donghyuck about how ticklish he was after a week of cleaning Donghyuck up. He’s also always left his neck for last, knowing that Donghyuck was especially ticklish there.

He knew it should be tedious to wipe chalk dust off of Donghyuck, but he liked the excuse it gave to touch Donghyuck and coddle him without thought. When he first started to and Donghyuck flinched away from him, he thought that Donghyuck didn’t like to be touched, but after it was explained that he was ticklish, Mark only smiled and found the boy even more adorable.

He wasn’t fond of skinship but he doesn’t mind pulling Donghyuck closer when the younger would squirm away if Mark’s hand got too near his neck. He would only laugh when Donghyuck would whine that he can clean his neck himself so that he wouldn’t be tickled, but Mark was adamant in taking care of Donghyuck in any way he knew. As a thank you for keeping his secret and for keeping him company.

“Hey, Mark.” Donghyuck asked as Mark wiped between Donghyuck’s fingers. His touch was always soft and Donghyuck was fighting the urge to clench his fingers into a fist because Mark didn’t have to touch his fingers for tingles to reach until the tips.

The older hummed, not looking up from the hand on his lap. Donghyuck hesitated, but still decided to ask. “How long are you going to stay here?”

Mark pauses. He places Donghyuck’s hand on his lap and then takes Donghyuck’s other, cleaning his fingers of dust. He’s never thought of it until now, but he knows that he can’t stay here forever. Two months already feels like a long time and he was surprised that he hasn’t been caught yet.

He shrugged. “I don’t know. I like it here. It feels like the world doesn’t exist, don’t you think?”

Donghyuck laughs despite Mark averting the topic. He doesn’t have time to ask again, though, because Mark sighs and Donghyuck’s other hand is placed with his other, on his own lap instead of Mark’s. “There’s maybe three months left until we have to leave for Canada. I still don’t want to go and if I’m going to be dragged to the airport, it’ll be from here.”

Donghyuck laughs again but he knows Mark was serious. The image of Mark being dragged out of school in the dead of the night was amusing, but even more so if it was in the middle of class.

He lifts a hand and places it on Mark’s shoulder, making the boy look up from taking another wet wipe out of the pack and to him. He looks at Mark sincerely, wanting him to know that he had another option.

“You know you can stay with me, too, right?” he says softly. It’s the first time he’s suggested it, but the thought has been floating around his mind for a few days already. “My parents won’t mind and it’ll be easier, too.”

Mark smiles softly and stretches his free hand to tap Donghyuck’s nose. Donghyuck’s nose wrinkled at the touch, rather cutely, in Mark’s opinion. “I don’t want to bother your parents. I’m already bothering you enough as is.”

Donghyuck pouts. He doesn’t like that Mark thinks he’s bothering him. As much as he wanted to correct the boy’s thinking, he knows that Mark would feel bad so he doesn’t comment on it, only pouting at the boy until he laughs at Donghyuck’s face and taps his nose again before he grips his wrist tightly.

“Okay, stay still.” the pout is wiped from Donghyuck’s face the moment the words leave Mark’s lips, replaced with a mix of a frown and a scowl with a protest visibly tucked in his throat and ready to be let out.

He tilts his head back, preparing to whine, but Mark was already pulling him closer by the arm, playfully glaring at him to keep still.

“Mark, let me do it!” Donghyuck whined despite knowing full well he had no say. His voice shoots up an octave higher, a high-pitched whine that Mark’s ears have already grown immune to after hearing it every night.

“No, Hyuck, you always leave some when you do.” Mark laughs when Donghyuck raises his shoulder to his neck when the wet wipe inches closer.

Donghyuck pouted, shaking his head rapidly. “No, it tickles!”

Mark narrows his eyes at Donghyuck, smile still on his face, and moves to the other side of Donghyuck’s neck instead. Donghyuck whines as he squirms, short giggles filling the locker room as Mark wipes his neck as carefully as he can so that Donghyuck wouldn’t strain a muscle trying to get away from him.

“You know, I seriously didn’t take you as someone who would smother someone else.” Donghyuck says between giggles before inching away from Mark again, only to be pulled closer immediately to finish cleaning his neck.

“That’s because I don’t.” Mark says as he pulls out a wet wipe and starts cleaning his own face, visibly less gentle than how he cleans Donghyuck. “You’re an exception, though. I think the world would turn on me if I make you lift a finger.”

“Hey, you make it sound like I’m spoiled.” Donghyuck says in faux offence. He wasn’t stupid, he knew that he was a little spoiled and not only by his family, but it didn’t mean he didn’t like joking about it.

Mark laughs, a sound that Donghyuck wanted as his ringtone despite knowing it was a bit much. “You are, but it’s cute. You’re not a brat about it and people seem like they genuinely like being all over you.”

Donghyuck blushes. He doesn’t know if it’s because Mark called him cute— or at least called the fact that he was spoiled cute—, or if it was because Mark said he was an exception, or because Mark was saying that it was easy to coddle Donghyuck. Maybe it was all three, he was embarrassed and flustered and Mark had just taken off his beanie and Donghyuck will always find the sight of Mark’s messy hair breathtaking.

“I don’t like it when people are all over me.” Donghyuck confesses after a moment of admiring Mark’s mussed hair. He knows he’s friendly and that he was charming and that was why people liked pleasing him, but he wasn’t fond of it.

“Sure, it’s nice every now and then when it’s from my friends. But when it’s from classmates or strangers it just feels weird. The world doesn’t revolve around me.” the way Donghyuck spoke was a contrast to the squirming boy he was being seconds ago and it made Mark wonder exactly how many layers Donghyuck had.

Mark will always be in awe of how serious Donghyuck can be one second, then a giggling mess the next. It did things to his heart that he wasn’t willing to admit but he knew he had to acknowledge or else he’d go crazy.

“Maybe people just see you as the sun.” Mark shrugged. He wouldn’t blame people for wanting to spoil Donghyuck; the boy might as well be a source of light from how bright he smiled when he was happy.

“But I’m not the sun.” Donghyuck laughed, tilting his head to the side. “I’m just Donghyuck.”

“Well,” Mark says after he’s done cleaning his neck. He doesn’t bother with his arms. “ _I_ , for one, like smothering Donghyuck.”

Mark taps Donghyuck’s nose again, watching in wrinkle at the touch, more as Donghyuck’s affectation for him than a reflex. Mark chuckles.

\---------

The cafeteria is once again noisy with hungry students and buzzing gossip being spread table to table. Mark has once again taken into flipping through a book whilst his three noisy friends converse about anything under the sun.

He’d offer his own quip every once in a while, mostly directed to Lucas because he liked to tease him more than the other two, but there was an occasional jab towards Jaehyun’s and Johnny’s direction as well if he saw fit.

Taeyong walks up to their table halfway through lunch, holding out a paper bag to Mark. “Hey, Mark, here’s the lights you asked for.”

Mark looks up from his book and beams as he takes it, smiling at Taeyong kindly.

“Thanks, Taeyong. I’ll return them tomorrow.” he said as he looked inside the bag and saw the fairy lights tucked away neatly inside.

“Take your time with them, no worries.” Taeyong answers before passing a glance over the table. He and Jaehyun lock eyes for a second and they share a small smile, something that Johnny snickers at.

“What are those for?” Lucas asks from next to Mark. Taeyong smiles softly at them, waiting for Mark’s answer. Mark had asked him yesterday after school if he can borrow his fairy lights but didn’t specify why he needed them, so he was as confused as the other three boys seated at the table.

Mark closes his book, placing the paper bag on the floor next to him. “Nothing big.”

Jaehyun eyes the closed book between him and Mark, not knowing when the last time Mark willingly put down a book that easily was. Mark wasn’t constantly reading but he liked pretending that he was so that he could ignore everyone else. And right now, that’s what Mark was doing, judging by how he hasn’t flipped the page since he sat down.

“I have to stop by the faculty before lunch ends so I’ll get going.” Taeyong says as he taps Mark’s back as a friendly gesture. He shares a small smile with the other three boys, his eyes crinkling a little more when he glances at Jaehyun.

Once Taeyong leaves, Johnny and Lucas go back to their conversation and Jaehyun takes this chance to slide the closed book out of Mark’s grasp and onto Johnny’s lap, out of the boy’s reach. He ignored the skip in his heart when Taeyong smiled at him, feeling his heart left with the boy anyway so there was no need to dwell on it.

“What are you planning?” Jaehyun asks Mark, his feet kicking under the table so that the tip of his shoe nudged the paper bag a little. Lucas and Johnny turn to them, already clearly invested in the conversation.

Mark chuckles, not making a move to take his book and focusing on his food. “Nothing. I remembered that Taeyong had fairy lights and decided to borrow them.”

“Mark, you sound so secretive.” Lucas laughed, bumping shoulders with Mark. Out of the three, Lucas had the most gossip and false information about Mark and Donghyuck. Though the two of them weren’t the school’s hottest topic, they still garnered a sizable amount of gossip that Lucas more than willingly shared during lunch.

Mark groaned, stuffing a spoonful of food inside his mouth. Jaehyun laughs, winking as Mark as if to remind him of their conversation weeks ago; that they’d wait until Mark was ready to formally introduce Donghyuck to them.

Mark realized that he and Donghyuck still haven’t introduced each other to their friends, despite the both of them talking about scenarios where their friends would get along nicely.

He figured he should introduce his friends to Donghyuck soon but maybe he wasn’t ready for the chaos that would ensue.


	8. Chapter 8

The sun has set and the classrooms have been cleaned. Once again, the empty halls are ringing with Donghyuck’s giggles. His eyes are closed, but not completely, as Mark guides him up the dark staircase, one hand on Donghyuck’s back and the other in Donghyuck’s. Mark thinks that Donghyuck can’t see anything, but Donghyuck was peeking through his lashes, making sure he wouldn’t miss a step and send the both of them tumbling down the steps.

Mark had insisted that the two of them clean the classrooms by themselves tonight, unlike how they usually cleaned each room together. An hour into erasing boards, Donghyuck thought that he wouldn’t be surprised if the only classrooms cleaned would be the ones _he_ went into. Donghyuck knew that Mark was up to something but didn’t pry and let the older do whatever he wanted. He figured that he didn’t know every last one of Mark’s secrets.

Mark came running to find him shortly after, grinning that he had something to show Donghyuck and demanding that the younger close his eyes and let him guide him there. And Mark, looking so happy and excited, tugging Donghyuck’s hands as he led him outside of the classroom, was too irresistible for Donghyuck to not relent.

Even with his closed eyes, Donghyuck falters on a step, and he lightly throws his head back to laugh at his own clumsiness. He feels Mark’s grip on him tighten as a ways of steading him and Donghyuck felt warm all over.

At nights, he feels as if his feelings weren’t silly and that his feelings weren’t unrequited, so he was going to lose all the sleep he can if it meant living in a dream.

“Mark, where are you taking me?” he asks with a small laugh. He’s pretty sure that Mark was taking him to the rooftop. For what reason, he didn’t know.

“You’ll see.” Mark answered. Donghyuck felt his heart stutter. He didn’t know exactly how close he and Mark were but he knew that they were past the line of friendly. He realized that more often than not, they tiptoed over the line like little kids.

Maybe it was his own sense of lovesickness, but he wanted to believe that Mark liked him as more than a friend, even just a smidge.

Maybe he really was being a bit delusional, but no one could blame Donghyuck for thinking like that when Mark was constantly making his heart flutter with small gestures like carrying things for him and pinching his nose and looking at him like he’s the only person in the room even when they were on opposite ends of a noisy cafeteria.

They reach the rooftop and before Mark opens the door to the roof, Donghyuck closes his eyes completely so that he can humour Mark as much as he can.

When he was sure that he and Mark have passed through the door, he expects Mark’s hands on his back and wrist again, but his heart skips a beat when he feels Mark step behind him, reaching around his head to cover his eyes whilst his other kept itself on Donghyuck’s side to nudge him forward.

“Mark, my eyes are closed.” he whined lightly when he felt the warm skin of Mark’s calloused palms on top of his eyes.

“I know but this is for effect.” Mark said and Donghyuck could hear the boyish smile in his tone.

Donghyuck laughed as he took small steps forward. “You’re such a dork.”

“We can turn back if you want.” Mark’s tone was teasing, telling Donghyuck that they were in too deep to back out now, not like Donghyuck wanted to put Mark’s efforts to waste.

“I never say I didn’t like it.” Donghyuck mused, his smile growing in anticipation. He still had no idea where Mark was leading him but wherever it was, Donghyuck was sure that he’d like it.

“Okay, then. You’re not allowed to say you don’t like it, okay? I worked hard on this.” Mark says as he stops walking, keeping Donghyuck from taking another step.

It’s quiet between them for a moment before Mark takes a step back and his hands leave Donghyuck’s body completely. Donghyuck suddenly feels cold despite wearing a relatively thick jacket, and he subconsciously juts out his lower lip at the loss of Mark’s hands on him.

Donghyuck’s eyes open, and he stifles an amused gasp as he takes in the state of the rooftop. Starting from the corner and until a good fifth of the rooftop, there was a blanket fort situated, fairy lights shining from inside the dark blankets that Donghyuck thinks Mark took from the drama club’s room, since where else would Mark find those?

“I borrowed lights from Taeyong this morning.” Mark explained as he watched Donghyuck take in the blanket fort.

He turns to Mark, who was behind him and looking at him expectantly. He chuckled at him before turning back to the corner of the rooftop that Mark decorated with blankets and lights. “Mark, what is all this?”

“You like it?” he asked as he took Donghyuck’s hands again and guided him to the entrance of the fort., his thumbs gently grazing the dorsums of his hands. “It’s tiring to wait for the stars to show up, so I thought, ‘why not make our own stars?’. Pretty, right?”

“It is.” Donghyuck agreed airily as Mark sat down and gestured for him to do the same. In Donghyuck’s eyes, Mark looked like an excited child showing a messy drawing with overwhelming flashes of pride shining in his eyes.

Donghyuck tittered, sitting down next to Mark and realizing that there were also a handful of blankets and pillows inside, housing a small stack of books that Mark undoubtedly took from the library.

“You’re a dork.” Donghyuck repeated with a laugh as he crawled inside, eyes on the books that were stacked in the middle. Despite the dark colour of the blankets, it wasn’t dark because of the lights.

Donghyuck gasped in awe as he took in the lights, looking as if they were floating all around them. He wanted to comment that it was too dark to read, but he found that he didn’t care. He didn’t expect to do a lot of reading if he was in such a place with Mark.

“You like it.” Mark smiled. He crawled inside the fort until the only thing between him and Donghyuck were the books, pillows, and blankets.

Donghyuck laughed as he brushed everything but the books aside, placing the pillows around him and Mark and the blankets on their laps. “Of course, I do. It’s not every day Mark Lee brings you the stars, you know.”

The statement was playful; nothing more than a joke, but Donghyuck doesn’t miss the way Mark’s eyes soften as he looks at Donghyuck. Donghyuck sees the way that Mark’s dark eyes shine under the fairy lights, almost reflecting stars and Donghyuck would be lying if it didn’t take his breath away.

“Mark Lee doesn’t bring the stars to just anyone.” the older smiled softly. He tilted his head to the side, a corner of his lips quirking upwards in an asymmetric grin that Donghyuck has grown accustomed to.

Donghyuck felt his heart leap again. He took a careful breath, eyes locked with Mark’s. Under the glow of the fairy lights, Mark looked softer than he usually did, which wasn’t a lot. He looked like a child, radiating subtle puerility.

Donghyuck’s head tilts to the side, his smile broadening. “I’m glad to make the cut, then.”

“You’re the standard, Hyuckie.” Mark said and Donghyuck was ready to take a book and hit his head with it. Mark was too cute for him, gave him a kind of attention that made his heart beat like crazy and maybe he _was_ crazy, for thinking that maybe Mark liked him the way he wanted him to.

Was it really so crazy to assume that Mark liked him back when he went and did all this for Donghyuck?

“If you keep talking like that then it won’t be long before I fall in love with you.” he said, partially jokingly, but there was still the underlying truth hiding behind the giggle.

Mark laughed, reaching forward to tap Donghyuck’s nose. “I’ll try to dial it down, then.”

Mark winked after he said that, proving to Donghyuck that he, in fact, had no plans of dialing anything down. He was having too much fun, doing things for Donghyuck and being close to him and being with the boy he never knew he’d ever feel like this about.

Donghyuck feels his ears heat up. He prays to the heavens that the blush would stay on his ears and wouldn’t spread to his cheeks.

Donghyuck takes a book from the stack and leans against the wall of the rooftop, turning to the first page. “Good, because I’d rather not hear my heart beating when I read.”

Mark fights the urge to pull Donghyuck to his side and place the younger’s head on his shoulder. He’ll never admit that it was almost a losing battle, but he prided himself in having a surprising amount of self-control.

He takes a book from the stack and leans on the wall next to Donghyuck to read as well. It’s quiet after that, Mark reading and Donghyuck looking up every now and then to admire the lights all around them again. When Mark would look up, it’s to admire the sun next to him.

“Why did you do this?” Donghyuck asked after a while.

Mark hummed, absentmindedly listening to Donghyuck as he was too focused on the words he was reading. He smiled. “Because I wanted to.”

“Why did you want to?” Donghyuck asked next, in that nasally voice he used when he tried to be annoying. He looks at Mark, admires the way the older looked in the soft light and the way his eyes were glued on his book but still making an effort to converse with Donghyuck.

“Because I just did.” Mark answered and without looking, pinched Donghyuck’s nose with two of his fingers. Donghyuck whines at the pressure on his nose, biting back another blush.

“Go back to reading, Hyuckie.” Mark sighs, a dazed sigh that wasn’t exasperated in any way.

Donghyuck doesn’t answer and does as told.

Somehow whilst they’re reading, Mark ends up with his head on Donghyuck’s shoulder and Donghyuck nuzzling his cheek on the fabric of Mark’s beanie. They haven’t spoken for at least an hour, just reading next to each other, and Mark and Donghyuck couldn’t think of a better way to spend the night.

Mark smells of peppermint masking something that was innately Mark. Donghyuck’s lungs burn as he breathes in Mark’s scent, the kind of burn that went to his lungs and then his heart and stayed there until Donghyuck was sure he was having difficulty breathing.

The fabric of the beanie against his cheek was soft but Donghyuck knew that the dark tufts of hair underneath the wool was just as soft, just as easy to thread around Donghyuck’s fingers and that he’d do it any chance he gets.

After a while, it gets quiet. The sound of Mark flipping pages is long gone, and Donghyuck realizes that Mark has fallen asleep. He tilts his head so that he can see the way Mark’s eyes were gently shut and his breathing has calmed without moving him from his shoulder.

He doesn’t have the heart to wake Mark up. More than that, Donghyuck didn’t have the willpower to.

He takes his phone out, hyper-aware of the sleeping boy on his shoulder and doing everything he can so that the boy would stay asleep, and quietly types in a text to his mom saying that he’ll be staying the night at a friend’s since it was already late and he didn’t want to travel

After, he slowly takes the book from Mark’s hands and closes it, putting it back in the stack that somehow ended up next to Donghyuck instead of between them. Mark stirs from the movement and Donghyuck freezes, shutting his eyes in a wish that Mark wouldn’t wake up.

He sighs in relief when Mark only snuggles closer to him, a small sigh escaping his lips as he fell back into his deep sleep. Donghyuck smiles at the older affectionately.

 _How is he so cute? This really isn’t good for my heart._ he thinks to himself as he takes deep breaths to calm his incessant heartbeat.

He lifts the blanket from their laps to Mark’s shoulders and takes off Mark’s beanie. He rests his cheek on Mark’s head and closes his eyes. It doesn’t take him long to fall asleep with the warm body next to him.

Hours later, in the dead of the night, Mark wakes up and realizes that he and Donghyuck have fallen asleep. The lights around them are still on and Mark doesn’t know what time it is, but he had a feeling that it was only a few hours before the sun rose and took the moon’s place in the sky.

He looks for his beanie when he realizes that his hair was free from the wool. He sees it in Donghyuck’s hand, the younger gently clutching it in his sleep. Mark chuckles, slowly reaching out to take his beanie from Donghyuck. He doesn’t put it back on, just sets it aside. Donghyuck may not be vocal about his thoughts on Mark’s beanies, but Mark knew that Donghyuck liked it when his hair wasn’t hidden. He didn’t know why but he didn’t dislike it, either.

His heart is ringing in his ears and Mark doubts he’d be able to fall asleep again, lest his heart take pity on him and calm down.

He wiggles away from Donghyuck carefully and then slowly moves Donghyuck so that he wasn’t sitting. Donghyuck stirs in his arms, a quiet whine escaping his lips and Mark does his best not to bite Donghyuck’s nose when it wrinkled in his sleep.

The lights made Donghyuck’s skin a soft, glowing aureate, reminding Mark of the warmth that Donghyuck so effortlessly spread throughout Mark’s entire being.

Mark sets Donghyuck down in the middle of the blanket fort, making sure that the younger was comfortable and that he wouldn’t wake up until morning came. He brushed Donghyuck’s fringe away from his closed eyes, smiling fondly at him.

He fought the urge to press a kiss between Donghyuck’s brows, calling upon the last vestiges of his self-control that he was sure he overworked today. There would come a time when Mark’s self-control would fade into nothing and he’d be left defenseless against the charm that is Lee Donghyuck.

After he places a pillow under Donghyuck’s head and placed a blanket over him, Mark lies down as well. He closes his eyes and feels Donghyuck shift from next to him. He thought that Donghyuck woke up, but Donghyuck only rolled over and then draped an arm around Mark’s torso.

Mark feels his heart race before he smiles and turns so that he was facing Donghyuck, letting the younger nuzzle into his chest before willing himself back to sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

Donghyuck wakes Mark up hours later. As much as he wanted to let himself slip back to slumber, he knew where they were and that they shouldn’t be on the school rooftop at the crack of dawn, so he willed himself to shake Mark awake, smiling drowsily at the sight of Mark’s overly mussed hair.

“Good morning.” Donghyuck hummed softly as Mark stirred from next to him, the older prying his eyes opened and smiling at him as he lifted his hand to ruffle Donghyuck’s hair.

“Good morning, Hyuckie.” Mark said above Donghyuck laugh. Mark decided that it was a nice sound to hear first thing in the morning. He sits up after Donghyuck has crawled out of the fort, Mark noticing the stream of sunlight that passed through the blankets when Donghyuck pushed them aside.

“Wait, it’s sunrise.” Mark noted as he followed Donghyuck out. The younger was walking to the ledge, standing next to the blanket forst and resting his arms on the ledge of the rooftop. The sky was a canvas splattered with yellow and orange peeking through bright blue, the sun already up but not quite.

Mark follows his lead, settling two steps next to Donghyuck, who smiled. “Yeah, pretty, isn’t it?”

Mark takes a moment to admire the way Donghyuck still looks incredibly appealing despite having only woken up. His hair was ruffled from Mark’s fingers and his sleep and despite where they’ve fallen asleep, Donghyuck manages to look well rested.

 _Yeah, it is._ Mark thinks as he sighs. “Do you have time to go home and shower?”

Donghyuck smiled, eyes crinkling as he shook his head. “I do, but I’m too lazy. Is it okay if I borrow some of your clothes?”

Mark never imagined Donghyuck in his clothes. Their styles weren’t the most similar. Donghyuck wore designer, whilst Mark wore whatever was comfortable. He tilted his head, leaning farther into the ledge so that he can look at Donghyuck at the better angle.

Donghyuck blinked, turning away from the sky to meet Mark’s gaze. His lips curled into an amused smile, letting himself get lost in Mark’s doe eyes. “What?”

Mark shook his head before he pushed himself off the ledge to begin packing up the fort. “Take whatever you’d like. You can also use my things if you want to shower.”

Donghyuck felt his face heat up, a warmth filling his insides at the thought of smelling the same scent Mark did. For the first time, the scent chasing him around would be because it came off of him, not because his mind wanted to remind him of how minty and fresh Mark smelled.

He had a feeling that even if he smelled of peppermint himself, the scent will always bring memories of Mark, no matter how hard Donghyuck tried to make it otherwise.

He wasn’t complaining, though, so with a smile, he thanked Mark for the generosity and began to help the older pack up their one-night stargazing set.

“Thank Taeyong for me, too.” Donghyuck said as he watched Mark place the fairy lights inside a paper bag. Mark looked at him in question and Donghyuck smiled at the tousled hair framing Mark’s face. “For the lights. I appreciate it.”

Mark smiled back, remembering how a small part of Donghyuck was intimidated by Taeyong and he wondered if Donghyuck still felt the same even with the knowledge that Taeyong lent Mark fairy lights. “I’ll be sure to send the message.”

Donghyuck walked over to Mark, crouching in front of the boy and lifting an arm so that he could place his fingers on top of his head and ruffle the already messy hair.

“Payback.” he said simply, referring to Mark’s fingers passing through his hair earlier.

He smiled brightly at the older’s nonplussed but amused expression. “But, of course, thank _you_ , for being crazy enough to do something like this.”

“I thought I was a dork.” Mark intoned.

Donghyuck laughed. “You’re both.”

They finish packing up the fort, passing through the drama room so that they could deposit the blankets and pillows. Mark said that the books were borrowed under his name, so he’ll return them later in the day.

Mark showers first. They could have showered at the same time, the shower room was big enough for that (it was meant to be used classes at a time, of course), but Donghyuck wanted to go through Mark’s clothes and find something that he wanted to wear.

Donghyuck looked through Mark’s bags, picturing Mark in clothes Donghyuck doesn’t remember Mark in and smiling at the imagery. Mark’s clothes were simple and every article of clothing looked warm and comfortable and smelt faintly of fabric softener.

Donghyuck decides on simple jeans and a plain orange shirt that he was positive was a size to big for both him and Mark since they looked about the same size. He giggled to himself as he looked through Mark’s beanies, contemplatiing if he wanted to wear one or not.

“You can borrow one if you want to.” Mark said as he stepped out of the shower room, fully dressed with a towel passing through his damp hair. The smell of peppermint that wafted around the room was stronger now that Mark was in the locker room with him.

“Should I?” Donghyuck mused as he put on an orange beanie that matched the long-sleeved shirt he picked out. He could almost smell the minty scent that was left over from Mark’s shampoo.

Mark laughed as he walked over to Donghyuck, using his free hand to tap the younger’s nose. “Cute.”

Donghyuck blushed as he took the beanie off. He avoided Mark’s eyes, flustered, as he stood from the bench he was sat on and made his way to the shower room.

“I’ll go out for a coffee run, you’re okay alone?” Mark asked him as they passed each other.

Donghyuck pouted, turning around from where he stood and pouting at Mark. Mark turned as well and chuckled at Donghyuck’s expression.

Mark raised his brow and Donghyuck only jut his bottom lip even more, the two of them having an impromptu stand-off between the locker room and shower room. Mark’s brow twitched at Donghyuck’s pout, mentally scolding himself for being so weak for the younger.

But how could’t he when Donghyuck made his heart so weak?

Mark always did hear that following your heart was the best answer to everything, so he was just following advice. If it meant he would bend over backwards every time his heart did a flip, then so be it.

He sighed, in defeat. “Fine, I won’t leave school. I’ll be in the cafeteria, is that okay?”

Donghyuck shook his head, pouting even more. “Can’t you wait for me to finish? Let’s go out for coffee together?”

Mark wanted to tell Donghyuck that he didn’t need to pull an adorably persuasive stunt like pouting and enlarging his eyes, but he kept the comment to himself as he smiled and nodded. “Fine.”

Donghyuck squeeled in delight before he ran inside the shower room and Mark yelled at him not to unless he wanted to slip and fall. When Donghyuck doesn’t reply, Mark decides to clean up the locker room whilst he waited for Donghyuck to finish showering.

Mark’s heart is fuzzy as he listens to the steady stream of water and Donghyuck’s humming a room away, bouncing off the tile walls of the shower room and echoing across the empty locker room. Mark doesn’t do anything about the content smile on his lips as he waits for Donghyuck to finish getting ready.

Mark’s phone buzzes from where it laid next to his school bag, a text from Jaehyun popping up.

 **Jaehyun:**  
Hey, Mark. What do you say about breakfast?

Mark curled his lips after he read the text, typing a reply as he sits.

 **Mark:  
** I’m actually getting breakfast with Donghyuck. Do you want me to ask if you can join us?

Jaehyun replies not a minute later, his voice whispering in Mark’s ears as he read the text. He wanted to roll his eyes but the warm snap in his chest stopped him from doing so.

 **Jaehyun:**  
I won’t be interrupting your date or whatever?

 **Mark:**  
Dude, it’s nothing like that. He’s pretty chill, he won’t mind.

Mark remembers that his friends all think that he and Donghyuck are something more than friends, much like a good portion of the student body. He was glad that Donghyuck was someone that laughed gossip and rumours off with a wave of his hand and that the fake news didn’t do anything to make their friendship awkward.

 **Jaehyun:**  
I mean, I wouldn’t say no if he doesn’t mind me third-wheeling

 **Mark:**  
You’re so not going to say that in front of him

 **Jaehyun:**  
Okay, okay, fine. I’ll be good ;)

“Hyuck, can Jaehyun join us for breakfast?” Mark yelled after reading Jaehyun’s reply. He knew that Donghyuck wouldn’t mind but still thought he should give the younger boy a head’s up. He never knew when Donghyuck was feeling particularly violent for the day.

“Yeah, why not?” came Donghyuck’s reply two and a half seconds later, the running water resounding above Donghyuck’s answer.

Mark nodded despite not being in front of Donghyuck. “Okay, thank you!”

 **Mark:**  
He said you can join us. Meet us at that diner Lucas likes?

He chuckles at the knowledge that Lucas would throw a fit once he finds out Mark and Jaehyun ate there without him. He liked their fries, so Mark decides to get Lucas some to save him and Jaehyun from their friend’s tantrum.

 **Jaehyun:**  
That was fast, are you two together already?

Mark kisses his lips, unsure of what to reply.

 **Mark:**  
Uhhh...

 **Jaehyun:**  
Oh, my god. You are so in love with him

He wouldn’t say he was _in love_ , but maybe he was a close second to it. Maybe half a second away from it. But he wasn’t _in love_.

 **Mark:**  
Shut up and meet us in 20

Okay, so what if Mark was _so_ in love with Donghyuck? He didn’t find anything wrong with it. At all. But he wasn’t. Not yet. At least, he hoped not yet.

That was until Donghyuck stepped out of the shower room, clad head to toe in Mark’s clothes, looking soft and adorable and smelling of Mark’s shampoo and body wash.

There wasn’t anything wrong with it except the constant threat of a heart attack, but Mark was willing to learn to live with it. His heart could race or stop altogether and Mark would welcome the complications with opened arms as long as Donghyuck was the reason for it.

“Where are we meeting Jaehyun?” Donghyuck asked him.

Mark blinked, somehow forgetting that he and Donghyuck were having breakfast with Jaehyun. “At this diner near school. I’ll drive?”

“As long as you don’t crash my car?” Donghyuck toned a hopeful voice, faking a wince after for effect.

Mark rolled his eyes, pretending to be offended by the statement. “Please, I know how to drive.”

Donghyuck laughed, went through his school bag and tossed Mark the keys before sauntering out of the locker room. “I’ll trust you with my life, then.”

Mark followed after Donghyuck, trusting the boy with his heart.

They hop inside Donghyuck’s car, the younger quickly taking the aux cord before Mark even pulls out of the school car park. Mark smiles fondly as he drives, listening to Donghyuck singing along to what he assumes to be his morning playlist.

“We’re here.” Mark said after he parked, leaning towards the passenger seat to tap Donghyuck’s nose habitually before stepping out.

Donghyuck scoffs at the action, knowing he’d glare at whoever touched his nose so casually and without thought unless that person was Mark, so in the end, Donghyuck could only be annoyed with himself.

When they get to the diner, Jaehyun is already there. He sees them enter and smiles brightly at the two, waving at them as they near him.

“Jaehyun, this is Donghyuck, I believe you’ve met.” Mark says as in introduction as he sits across Jaehyun, faced away from the counter.

“Of course, we have, ghost boy.” Donghyuck jabs as he sits next to Mark.

Mark throws Donghyuck a look at the nickname and the younger only winks before turning back to Jaehyun. “Have you been waiting long?”

Jaehyun chuckled as he watched the interaction, not questioning the moniker Donghyuck used with Mark. “No, I just got here. I already ordered, though, so you two go ahead and do that.”

“I’ll do it.” Donghyuck volunteered as he stood up. He didn’t know what he’d talk to Jaehyun with if the two of them were left alone; he’d be more comfortable making Jaehyun’s acquiantance if Mark was present. He turned to Mark, tilting his head in silent question.

Mark slipped his wallet out of his pocket and tossed it towards Donghyuck’s direction, narrating his order. “An iced coffee and two bagels. Thanks, Hyuck.”

“On it.” Donghyuck smiled before walking away with Mark’s wallet.

“You look at him like he hung the stars.” Jaehyun laughed with an amused shake of his head. Mark wanted to laugh with him, but at the irony of the statement. If anything, Mark was the one that hung stars for Donghyuck last night.

Seeing Mark walk in with Donghyuck was an odd sight, but it wasn’t an unwelcomed one. It was bright and early but the both of them looked so full of life and like they’ve been running around in circles for hours, phantoms of giggles playing in their lips. If Jaehyun noticed that Donghyuck was wearing clothes that weren’t his, he made no comment on it.

“I do not.” Mark weakly denied with a roll of his eyes.

Jaehyun was one of his best friends and any amount of effort he puts into lying will be flicked away with a simple click of a tongue, so Mark doesn’t even bother.

Jaehyun rolled his eyes, shaking his head at the poor suggestion of a denial. “Please. Even Johnny isn’t _that_ whipped.”

“We both know that’s not true.” Mark chuckled. Johnny looked at Ten like how the latter meant to the former; which was everything.

With a raise of his brow, Jaehyun countered, “Do we?”

Mark doesn’t answer, only rolls his eyes again. He thinks Donghyuck may be rubbing off on him with that habit, but then again, he didn’t care. He’s going to think of it like carrying a small piece of Donghyuck everywhere he went.

Okay, he really maybe was _that_ whipped.

“You like him a lot, don’t you?” Jaehyun asked after two beats of silence. His mind was less teasing now and more sincere, but still with a hint of jest. Mark recognized it as the tone Jaehyun used when he was willing to take the conversation down a deeper path or a playful one depending on the answer he got.

Mark stilled, mind reeling with a resounding ‘yes’. He pursed his lips, licking at the slightly chapped skin before nodding, timidly.

He looks at Donghyuck, who was chatting with the boy on the counter as if they were long-time friends instead of server and customer. There’s a tray in front of Donghyuck, seemingly Jaehyun’s order, and Mark turns back around to face Jaehyun when it looked like Donghyuck was going to be chatting for an extra few minutes. He breathed out, “Yeah, I do.”

“Do you now?” Jaehyun mused. He placed his chin on his palm, propped up by his elbow on the table.

Mark nodded again. He felt the giddy smile creeping up his lips and it was silly when it was simply the thought of Donghyuck that garnered such an expression from him.

He doesn’t know when, but he thinks it was half a month ago, when he and Donghyuck were cleaning classrooms and laughing, and Mark realizes that for the first time, he saw someone as more than a friend. He didn’t have time to freak out about it, because Donghyuck’s giggles demanded attention, and Mark had half a mind to give it to him.

“Kind of crazy to think about it, right?” Mark continued after a moment of silence. He chuckled, fondly and exasperatedly. “Until recently, we never even looked at each other for long but now... I like having him with me. I like being with him. I like him.”

Jaehyun doesn’t answer, just raises his brow again, glances behind Mark before back to his friend.

Mark continues without any prodding. “It’s weird, but I like him. It’s different when I’m with him, it’s nice. It’s easy to bend to his every whim, and I’m actually kind of worried that he’s getting a little spoiled but... I can’t help looking at him like he’s the only person that matters.”

From behind Mark, Donghyuck purses his lips, feeling his ears and cheeks blush deep red as he processed the words. It was too early for this, he hasn’t had a drip of caffeine and his heart hasn’t calmed down from when he first got a whiff of Mark’s shampoo in his hair.

 _Spoiled_. He wanted to laugh at the word. He knew his friends and family spoiled him, but he liked it a lot more when Mark did. It made him feel special, like he doesn’t deserve the coos and gushes and compliments because they came from Mark; because if it came from anyone else, he’d accept them gratefully with a blinding smile, but with Mark, he blushes.

Jaehyun cooed, loudly, bringing Donghyuck out of his flustered trance. He reached over to pinch Mark’s cheek, the other slapping it away with an embarrassed scowl. “Don’t look at me like that.”

“But you’re cute when you’re in love.” Jaehyun mooned, obviously teasing his friend.

Mark narrowed his eyes at Jaehyun, groaning. “Sh-Shut up.”

Jaehyun laughs and doesn’t drag the conversation on, giving Donghyuck the chance to slip back into the booth.

“Hey guys, what are you talking about?” Donghyuck asked as he sat back down next to Mark, pretending as if he hadn’t heard Mark’s almost wax poetry about him. He glanced at Mark and smiled before turning to Jaehyun, who was looking at Donghyuck knowingly.

Mark cleared his throat. “Jaehyun’s crush on Taeyong.”

Donghyuck’s eyes widen dramatically at the new information as he gasped and turned to Jaehyun. It was Jaehyun’s turn to splutter, to which both Mark and Donghyuck thought was rightfully deserved. “Hey, no fair!”

* * *

The day goes by and it’s dismissal time. Mark and Donghyuck shared their last class so they’re exiting the classroom together.

“Hey, Hyuck.” Mark catches up to Donghyuck before the younger has left the classroom, earning a smile that never failed to make his heart race.

“Hi.” Donghyuck smiled as he waited for Mark to fall into step with him before walking again.

Mark offers to get Donghyuck a parting can of soda, and who is Donghyuck to refuse? This was the only class he shared with Mark today, but throughout all his classes, his mind was reeling with Mark’s almost confession, his heart awakening another butterfly in his stomache with every giddy beat.

He didn’t know what he was going to do with what he heard, but he was going to keep it close to his heart. Jaehyun wanted him to hear what Mark had to say for a reason, and until he knew what he was going to make of it, he wasn’t going to do anything.

Their class ended late thanks to their teacher so halls are almost empty, save for other students who had extracurriculars for the afternoon.

“Here you go.” Mark said as he tucked a cold can of soda in Donghyuck’s palm after he’s bought two from the vending machine in the cafeteria. They’s a group of friends on the other vending machine, picking out their own drinks as they talked about where to head for after-school snacks.

“Thanks.” Donghyuck smiled as he opened the can.

Donghyuck decides to walk Mark to the locker room after they get their sodas, since Mark needed to change for soccer practice, and the exit to the carpark was on the way.

“Do you want burgers again tonight?” Donghyuck asked as they walked.

Mark shrugged. “You pick.”

“Burgers, then.” Donghyuck smiled. He didn’t have to meet up with Mark for another three hours and decided that he was going to take a nap to pass the time until he would come back to school.

“Mark?” Donghyuck called as they neared the locker room.

He stops walking, Mark halting a step in front of him. The empty hallway is silent when seconds ago it carried their banter.

Mark doesn’t answer, for his eyes land on the bags left outside the locker room. His heart drops at the sight, not knowing how long his things have been laid there, but from the looks of it, it hasn’t been over an hour.

He knew this day was going to come, but he still didn’t know what to do if ever it did. But now it was there, in front of Mark and Donghyuck, and Mark had no plans.

He sighed, defeated. “Oh, look. It’s my eviction notice.”


	10. Chapter 10

Mark’s sarcastic comment hangs in the air for a handful of silent seconds, both of them simply staring at the discarded bags in the middle of the hallway. Mark sighed, resigning himself to either asking Jaehyun to let him stay the next couple of nights or finally swallowing his pride and coming home to his family.

Donghyuck marches over to the bags, placing the soda can on the floor before picking them up and slinging them over his shoulders.

“Donghyuck, what are you doing?” Mark asked as he walked closer, reflexively reaching out for his things but getting glared at by Donghyuck when his hand got too near. Mark drew his hand back, not willing to see if Donghyuck was willing to go as far as bite his arm off if he tried taking his things again.

Donghyuck didn’t look angry, he looked determined, but Mark knew that Donghyuck can be aggressive, so he was going to save himself the potential blood loss.

“I’m taking your things home with me.” Donghyuck declared as he picked up his soda. “And then I’m picking you up in three hours. You’re staying with me until further notice.”

“Donghyuck, I can’t.” Mark argued but by the look on Donghyuck’s face, there was no room for arguement. He wasn’t going to try, though.

Donghyuck shook his head, stamping his foot on the floor for good measure. “No, I made up my mind. You’re staying with me and that’s final.”

“I can stay with Jaehyun, or Lucas—“ “Mark, they don’t even know about any of this.” Donghyuck’s stubborn gaze softened. “And I doubt you want to go home yet.”

“I don’t want to trouble you or your parents.” Mark sighed as he ruffled Donghyuck’s hair in some sort of apology.

Donghyuck smiled, his cheeks bunching up under his eyes as he leaned into the touch. Mark smiled, keeping his hand on Donghyuck’s head a little longer. “You’re not troubling me, ghost boy. And if it really bothers you, then let’s just not tell my parents.”

It was meant as a joke, something to ease Mark’s worries, but Donghyuck wouldn’t put it below himself to keep Mark a secret from his parents. He knew that his parents wouldn’t mind Mark staying over for a couple of weeks, might even give him the guest room, but something about sneaking Mark in and out of his house intrigued Donghyuck.

Maybe he was too used to secret nights with Mark and wasn’t ready to let go of it yet. But above all, Mark was troubled with the thought of being a burden to his parents, so Donghyuck might as well take them out of the equation altogether.

“Donghyuck.” Mark warned. The last thing he wanted was to get Donghyuck in trouble.

Donghyuck only shrugged one shoulder before begining his walk away. “I’ll pick you up, okay?”

There really was no room for arguements.

* * *

Three hours later, Donghyuck is back in school. Donghyuck had run around the field with Jaemin for a good ten minutes until both Mark and Jeno have deemed their playtime enough and pried the two screeching boys away from each other.

“Let me go, I’m gonna pull his hair out!” Jaemin had yelled when Jeno pulled him back by the waist.

Donghyuck laughed, sticking his tongue out at his friend. “You’re just jealous because you’ve bleached your hair too much that it’s dead!”

Mark’s grip on Donghyuck’s arm stales. He had no idea how their friendship worked but during the ten minutes that he and Jeno have stood by the bleachers and watched the two boys chase each other and spit out insults, he’s come to the conclusion that Donghyuck and Jaemin were a scary combination.

“Oh, you did not!” Jaemin gasps dramatically and attempts to lunge forward, only to be pulled back again by Jeno who was still holding Jaemin by the hips.

Mark takes this time to check if Jaemin had any scratches on his face because by the way Donghyuck was half-heartedly struggling against him, his nails were pretty sharp.

“Alright, save that for tomorrow!” Jeno concluded as he bent down to pick Jaemin up off the grass and carry him over his shoulder.

“Lee Jeno, put me down!” Jaemin demanded whilst merely crossing his arms instead of trying to squirm away from his boyfriend’s hold.

Jeno sighed and looked at Mark, who was still holding Donghyuck back, and smiled. “See you two tomorrow.”

“Bye bye!” Donghyuck beamed as he waved at the retreating boy. Mark was taken aback, two seconds ago, he was tossing insults at Jaemin but now he was waving as if he was bidding his closeest friend goodbye, which didn’t seem too far off.

“Bye, Hyuck! Bye, Mark!” Jaemin said in return as Jeno walked further away.

“So, you good?” Donghyuck asked once he’d caught him breath.

“What were you two even fighting about?” he asked. He left to take his gym back from the locker room and came back with nothing to do but stand next to Jeno and wait for the two of them to get tired, which was soon clear that was not anytime soon.

Donghyuck laughed. “Honestly, I don’t remember. I think I made a remark about Jeno and things just went from there.”

“I’m guessing you two are always like that?” Mark let out an incredulous laugh.

Donghyuck and Mark started to make their way to the carpark. Donghyuck shrugged, still laughing. “I guess. Sometimes we join forces to tease Chenle or Jisung, but that’s until Renjun takes pity on them and starts yelling at us.”

Mark smiled as he pictured Renjun next to Jeno, much like how he was moment prior, as the two of them watched Donghyuck and Jaemin annoy the life out of Chenle and Jisung. It was an amusing sight and Mark internally hopes that he could see it soon.

“Alright, get in.” Donghyuck said as he opened tossed Mark’s gym back into the backseat of the car. How and when Donghyuck had taken that bag from Mark was beyond him.

The drive was quiet, Mark looking out the window to see if he was familiar with the area and Donghyuck absentmindedly mumbling the lyrics to the songs playing in the car.

“So, you’re just going to keep me in your room captive every night?” Mark asked in the middle of the drive to Donghyuck’s house.

Donghyuck laughed from where he was behind the wheel, risking a glance at Mark so that he could smirk at him. “Well, if you put it _that_ way.”

Mark rolled his eyes, amused.

Donghyuck smiled. “I normally eat a lot, so I can bring you dinner and we’ll eat in my room. My parents won’t mind if I say I have things to do. My sister doesn’t really get in my hair as long as I’m out of her’s so that’s not a problem, too.”

“Thank you, Hyuck. Really.” Mark sighed as they pulled up in front of a house Mark quickly noted as Donghyuck’s. It was a quiant home, a perfect size for a family of four. It was a nondescript house but the fact that Donghyuck lived there made Mark want to commit every nook and cranny to memory.

“If you weren’t doing this, I’ll probably trudge the way home.” he muttered under his breath as he imagined a younger Donghyuck running around the porch with a younger Jaemin, the two of them trying to grab onto the other. It wasn’t too much of a stretch to imagine if Mark deduced that Donghyuck and Jaemin were as rough and immature with each other then and now.

“It’s no problem, Mark.” Donghyuck said sincerely as he pulled the keys out of the ignition, pulling Mark out of his thoughts. “I know that you probably shouldn’t be running away and all, but it would make me feel better if i keep my eye on you. So, thanks for letting me.”

If Mark ever decided to go back home, he’d be all in for it. He hoped that Mark would be able to work things out with his family, but he knew that the sooner Mark did, the sooner Donghyuck had to accept the fact that Mark was moving away soon. He didn’t want to think of that, because Mark was a friend to him now, and he didn’t want to say goodbye too soon.

But maybe being countries away from Mark would do him good, but he doesn’t want to let the feelings he held for Mark disappear anytime soon either.

“Hyuck.” Mark said. Donghyuck hummed, letting him continue. Mark started to look anxious, which worried Donghyuck, until the older spoke. “How do I get in?”

Donghyuck laughed, waved his hand in dismissal and then opened the door. “My parents won’t be home until later. Are you hungry, though? I can get us some snacks. My sister is probably locked up in her room, so you can just waltz through the front door.”

Donghyuck doesn’t give time for Mark to answer his question, sandwiched between two statements. The boy holds on to Mark’s wrist, a sign of comfort and reassurance that he was far from trespassing and that he was completely welcomed, and tugged the boy inside, guiding him to the staircase and leading him to his bedroom, where he pushes Mark to sit on the bed before letting go of him.

“Snacks?” Donghyuck repeats his question once Mark was safe inside of his room.

Mark only nods, distractedly taking in the room. The walls were painted the same eggshell white that most of the house seemed to be— from what he could see when Donghyuck was leading him up the stairs. A small desk was next to the door, a textbook laid on the side of it along with a pencil holder that housed a handful of coloured pens and bright highlighters. Aside from that were Mark’s bags, stacked on top of each other on the study desk, a shelf hovered on top that contained a decent amount of novels. There was a door next to what Mark was assuming to be Donghyuck’s closet; he figured that it was a bathroom.

Donghyuck’s bed was pressed against the wall and next to it was a small nightstand with a digital clock and a pitcher of water and an empty glass, probably from the night before and forgotten throughout the day. There was also a bottle of perfume next to the clock, the label confirming Mark’s suspicions of Donghyuck’s subtle scent: mandarin, lemon, and jasmine.

There’s a window on the wall above the bed, leading out to the roof of the patio, where Mark wouldn’t be surprised Donghyuck would climb out off in the dead of the night or middle of the afternoon.

There weren’t any posters lining the walls like Mark would have thought decorated Donghyuck’s room, instead there were a variety of pictures taped to the wall opposite the door in bright colourful washi tape. There wasn’t a specific pattern to how the pictures were displayed, they were simply stuck there without much thought, but the fact that they earned a spot on Donghyuck’s wall was thought enough. From his spot on the bed, he looked over the pictures, recognizing Donghyuck’s friends easily. Some were of a mix of their group, some of him and what Mark can only assume to be his family. All of them had Donghyuck’s smile in perfectly laminated paper.

Mark doesn’t even realize that Donghyuck had already left until he came back, a plate of sandwiches in one hand whilst two bottles of soda in the other.

“I hope you like peanut butter and jelly.” Donghyuck placed the plate next to Mark on the thick blanket before walking to his desk and pulling the chair to the bed so that he could sit.

“Thank you.” Mark smiled as he took a sandwich and bit into it. He looked around the room again. “Your room’s a lot cleaner than I thought it would be.”

Donghyuck schooled a clearly exaggerated offended look, placing a hand to his chest for effect. “Are you saying you think of me as a slob?”

“No.” Mark laughed. “You’re expressive. I thought maybe you’d have more things lying around, like a little museum, of sorts.”

Donghyuck snorts, raising his nose in the air. “Aren’t I art enough?”

Mark takes in Donghyuck’s person before sighing and nodding, almost helplessly. “Yeah.”

The answer was short and concise yet still made Donghyuck’s heart beat faster. He cleared his through, reaching for a sandwich to bite into instead of his lip. He feared that his bottom lip will be mottled with bruises at this rate.

“I’ll talk to my parents soon.” Mark sighed after the plate of sandwiches were consumed. Donghyuck was still sitting on the chair, in front of Mark, and the older had his legs tucked under him now, more comfortable in the new space than he was earlier.

Donghyuck looked at Mark attentively, giving the older his full attention as he chewed on his sandwich in a way that bunched his cheeks up adorably. Mark stifled a smile and stopped himself from reaching over and pinching the younger’s cheek.

He shrugged, sighing as he did so. “I mean, I have to.”

Donghyuck nodded in understanding. “That’s good, I guess. Maybe you can work things out with them? So that you don’t have to move?”

“I doubt it.” Mark scoffed, a mixture of disbelief, frustration, and fondness. “My parents won’t want me to grow up without them.”

“That’s understandable.” a small smile plays on Donghyuck’s lips as he replies. He thinks of his own family; his parents and his younger sister. He couldn’t imagine living away from them, much more his parents agreeing to something of that nature.

He scrunches his nose and pats Mark’s knee playfully. “But hey, if they do decide that you can live away from them, you can always stay with me.”

“You think we can pass of as cousins?” Mark asks with a small raise of his brow. “Or brothers, even? We have the same family name, it wouldn’t be hard.”

Donghyuck scowls, utterly disgusted with the idea of being blood-related with the boy he likes. He almost gagged, thankful he caught himself before he did so. “Please, I’d rather not have that idea in my head.”

Mark leans forward, scrunching his nose like Donghyuck did earlier, smirking humourously. “Why, Hyuckie? You don’t like the idea?”

If Mark leaned a little closer, Donghyuck’s breath would hitch, but he didn’t, so Donghyuck was still able to hold on to a shred of composure.

Donghyuck rolls his eyes, pressing a finger against Mark’s shoulder and pushing him away, hard enough for Mark to pretend that he was shoved, ending with his back to the mattress, shoulders shaking as he giggled.

Donghyuck’s parents get home so he leaves Mark in his room, telling him to be quiet and that he’ll be back with dinner. Donghyuck’s parents bring home takeout, so that means he didn’t have to worry about whether or not Mark was picky with home-cooked meals. Not yet, anyway.

He takes more than his usual serving, but not enough to draw attention, and says, “I have a lot of homework to do, I’ll eat in my room tonight.”

His parents hum in acknowledgement as his sister takes a seat at the table, eyeing Donghyuck before turning to the food and taking servings for herself.

“Bring the dishes down after!” his mom called after him when he was halfway up the stairs.

“Will do!” he answered.

When Donghyuck comes back, Mark is laid on his stomache, flipping through his textbook as he internally contemplated if he wanted to answer his math homework first or his history homework.

“Aren’t you going to shower first?” Donghyuck asked Mark as he placed their food in front of Mark, settling back on the chair since Mark was still taking a good portion of the bed. Mark had just come back from soccer practice and the last thing either of them wanted was for Mark to get sick.

Mark hummed, deciding to do math first since the textbook was already opened in front of him. “Maybe later. You can shower first after we eat.”

“Wait, we have homework for math?” Donghyuck asked, remembering that he and Mark shared that class. He watched Mark scribble his answers without thought, scratching out his penciled errors instead of using an eraser.

Mark nodded. “Yep. You can copy mine if you want.”

“Wow, I never took you for someone that let others copy off him.” Donghyuck said, mildly surprised at the offer. He’s seen a handful of times where Mark brushed his friends away when they asked if they could look at Mark’s homework, eventually relenting after a round of bribes.

Mark shrugged, taking a dumpling into his mouth. “I never took you for someone who’d take in an illegal immigrant, but here we are.”

Donghyuck laughs at Mark’s exaggeration, shaking his head at the older before poking a dumpling inside his mouth. He watches Mark answer his homework, reminding the boy to take bites when he lasts half a minute without chewing.

He eventually joins Mark for homework (copied Mark’s math homework, but that was all he had to do tonight), the two of them eating and talking as they wrote answers on their textbook and notebook respectively.

After they eat, Donghyuck takes the dishes away, brings up two water bottles for him and Mark, and then takes a shower as Mark rolls around his bed on his phone. Donghyuck realizes that Mark was tired and sweaty and outside his bathroom rolling around in his bed and tries not to groan.

After Donghyuck showers, it’s Mark’s turn, but not before a scolding from Donghyuck.

“I can’t believe I let you in my bed whilst you’re tired and sweaty.” Donghyuck mumbled as he glared at Mark, the type that was too cute to be threatening.

Mark copied Donghyuck’s signature pout, which was far from the original but the effect on Donghyuck was almost astonishing. “M’sorry.”

Donghyuck softened, sighing in borderline frustration. “Just get out of my bed, oh my God.”

Mark laughs and rolls on to the floor soundlessly, Donghyuck taking a small step towards Mark but all thoughts of Mark being injured were gone as soon as they came as Mark was laughing and getting to his feet.

“You’re really going to be the death of me.” Donghyuck tone held a type of fondness that would have taken Mark off guard if he wasn’t sure that he held that exact type of fondness for Donghyuck himself.

“I’ll set up your bed for you whilst you’re in there.” Donghyuck said as Mark walked to the bathroom.

Mark smiled. “Thank you.”

Donghyuck doesn’t know how many times Mark has said that to him this night alone, but the soft gaze and genuine tone that Mark used never failed to make his heart flutter.

Donghyuck is thankful that they keep the futon beds inside the guest room, which made sneaking one inside his room a whole lot easier. He also takes a spare blanket and two pillows into his room and sets it next to his bed.

After Mark finishes his shower, he sees Donghyuck kneeled in the middle of the futon, fluffing two pillows. He glances as Mark before going back to his task. “I know my bed is probably big enough for the both of us, but I’m not going to risk any funny business.”

Donghyuck glances at Mark again and sees the scandalized blush that rises on the freshy-showered boy’s cheeks. Donghyuck laughs, very much proud of himself for being able to produce a reaction from Mark.

“Excuse me, but I’m not like that.” Mark tries to defend himself and Donghyuck thinks he’s absolutely captivating standing outside his bathroom with a towel over his hair in a loose shirt and sweats and a blush painting up to his neck.

Donghyuck might be pushing his luck but he still winks at Mark. “I meant me.”

Mark splutters and Donghyuck laughs again, crawling into his own bed and hiding under the covers. He made sure to turn away from Mark in fear of his own blush being noticed. “Turn off the lights, I’m sleepy.”

Donghyuck closes his eyes only when the lights are turned off and he was positive his blush wasn’t seen anymore. He feels more than hears Mark shuffling from behind him, getting comfortable on the futton.

“Good night, Hyuckie.” Mark said as he sighed into the fluffy pillows.

“Good night, ghost boy.” Donghyuck answered, a smile on his face as he drifted to sleep.


	11. Chapter 11

Mark wakes up first just as the first vestiges of the sun seep through the gaps in the drawn curtain of Donghyuck’s window. He sits up, stretches, and then notices Donghyuck still asleep. He smiles at the sleeping boy and folds his arms on the bed to rest his cheek on it so that he could more comfortably watch Donghyuck sleeping.

He was creepy. He really, genuinely, whole-heartedly owned up to the fact that he was staring at a sleeping Donghyuck. But then again, he couldn’t stop himself, not when Donghyuck was this close and this calm and this peaceful. Not when it was Donghyuck.

His eyes trailed over every exposed mole he could find, each mark on Donghyuck’s skin looking more strategically placed as the last. Mark wondered if there were more moles in Donghyuck’s body that things Mark completely adored about the boy altogether. In the end, Mark was smitten with Donghyuck and his wax poetry could rival encyclopedias.

He was vaguely aware of the dazed smile on his face, partly from having just woken up and mostly because Donghyuck always made him smile.

If Donghyuck wasn’t so ready to help him, Mark would have already trudged back home and accepted moving into a different continent. Mark knew it was inevitable in the end and that what his parents say go, but Mark liked the illusion of having a fighting chance by being petty and running away.

He still doesn’t know exactly why Donghyuck is helping him or if the boy has an ulterior motive but Mark doesn’t care at the moment. Right now, Donghyuck has given his petty act of rebellion an extension; and more than that, he has Donghyuck by his side.

“Hyuck.” he whispered as he poked the boy’s full cheek. If he didn’t wake Donghyuck up now then he might as well end up staring at him all morning. “Donghyuck, wake up.”

Donghyuck stirred, rolling over to face away from Mark. “Let me sleep. Go shower first.”

Mark laughed, relenting. He stands and pulls the blanket higher on Donghyuck’s shoulders before heading to the bathroom to take a shower. He doesn’t take his time like he usually would when he was in his own bathroom or if he was in the shower room.

After he’s dressed and passing a towel through his hair, he smiles at the assortment of products on Donghyuck’s medicine cabinet. Most of them were used, some still unopened, but if Mark’s assumptions were correct, none of the moisturizers, face mists, and hair sprays were used habitually or routinely. It looked like the products were only used whenever Donghyuck deemed fit, which wasn’t every day.

When he exits the bathroom, he sees Donghyuck seated cross-legged in the middle of his bed, his blanket draped over his shoulders as he looked through his phone. He looks up and gives Mark a tiny smile. “You were quick.”

He shrugged. “Didn’t want to take long.”

Donghyuck tosses the blanket off his shoulders and stands, patting down his bed head. “Well, my parents should be awake any minute now, so unless you want to jump out my window, you should head to my car now and wait for me.”

Donghyuck tosses Mark the keys, which he catches easily. “Don’t you dare run off with my car.”

Mark laughs at the joke, saluting at Donghyuck. Donghyuck smiles back and disappears into the bathroom, Mark stepping out of Donghyuck’s bedroom and sneakily making his way to the front door without getting caught by the three other residents of the house.

After showering and getting dressed, Donghyuck hops down the stairs and heads to the kitchen, where his father was finishing up with preparing breakfast. His mother was probably still in their room getting ready for work, whilst his dad looked like he was ready to head to the office.

“Good morning.” Donghyuck greeted with a smile as he took out two tupperwares. “I have to head to school early today, can I bring some breakfast with me?”

“Here you go.” his dad smiled as he placed three pieces of pancakes into a plate for Donghyuck to cut up so that it fit inside. “Take as much as you like, I don’t think Yeonhyuck will eat a lot this morning.”

Donghyuck chuckled as he took another two pancakes from the pile. He filled the tupperware with pancakes with syrup, ready to argue with Mark if the older complained that he put too much. He sliced up a couple of bananas and apples and placed the fruit inside the second tupperware, closing it after he was done.

He checked his watch. Mark has been waiting for him for almost an hour now.

“Coffee?” his dad offered as he took out a thermos for Donghyuck.

Donghyuck smiled. “Yes, please. Can you fill it to the brim?”

His dad chuckled but still did as told. “I swear, you drink an unhealthy amount of coffee.”

Donghyuck wanted to comment that he planned on sharing the coffee and pancakes with someone else, but caught himself before he did so, only nodding in response as he pulled out a pair of plasticware. “I’m a growing kid, let me drown in coffee.”

“Alright, alright.” his dad chuckled, closing the thermos and sliding it towards Donghyuck. “Have fun at school.”

“Have a great day at work!” Donghyuck said before making his way to and out of the front door, where Mark was waiting for him.

“Okay, why are you there?” Donghyuck deadpanned as he opened the door to the driver’s seat, where Mark was seated, a book on his lap.

Mark didn’t spare him a glance as he answered. “I’m driving from now on. Think of it as payment for food and lodging or something.”

Donghyuck chuckled, shaking his head as he tipped Mark’s book closed, not fazed by the almost deadly glare the older sent him when he did so. “What is up with you and trying to pay for rent?”

Mark shrugged, still glaring at Donghyuck as he cradled the now closed book to his chest.

Donghyuck almost blushed at the cuteness. He shook his head again, sighing. “Fine. Drive.”

He closed the door and rounded the car to hop inside the passenger’s seat, Mark starting the car when he was sure that Donghyuck was buckled up, their school bags in the backseat, two tupperwares of food in his lap and a thermos full of coffee in the space between their seats since it was too wide for the cup holder.

They’re two minutes into the drive to school and Mark and Donghyuck have already fallen into a routine of Donghyuck taking bites of fruit and pancakes and feeding Mark in intervals. Donghyuck would take sips of the hot coffee for himself and decided to leave half for Mark to drink when his hands weren’t full.

Donghyuck bites back the blush threatening to make way to his cheeks at the realization that he and Mark were being awfully domestic; and that he didn’t mind it one bit and hoped that drives to school will be like this from now on.

“The light is green.” Donghyuck muttered, maybe to himself or to Mark, when he realizes that he and Mark have fallen into a sudden bout of soft giggles when they came upon a red light and Donghyuck spilled some syrup on his fingers, the younger whining at how sticky it was.

Mark blinked and turned back to the road, turning away from Donghyuck who was licking at his knuckle to rid it of syrup. “Oh. Thanks.”

“Are you sure you can drive?” Donghyuck teased as he fed Mark a bite of pancake.

Mark scoffed, feigning offence. “We haven’t crashed, right?”

“I guess you have a point.” he laughed.

As Mark is parking the car, Donghyuck tosses the now empty tupperwares in the back seat and drags their school bags to the front. Mark smiles as he takes his things from Donghyuck and the two of them step out of the car.

Mark holds out his hand after he’s strapped his bag over his shoulders and Donghyuck raises his brows in question. Mark narrows his eyes at Donghyuck’s bag, one of the straps slung over his shoulder.

Donghyuck tilted his head in comprehension but makes no move to give Mark his bag. “You know, if you carry two bags you’ll look weird.”

Mark takes a step forward and slips the strap off Donghyuck’s shoulder and arm whilst he chuckles. “If you’ve forgotten, I do other things that are weird, too, so I think I can manage.”

Donghyuck blinked as he watched Mark sling his bag over one of his shoulders. He feels a small quirk on the corner of his lips. “Do you think people see you as weird?”

Mark shrugged, clearly unbothered, as they make their way inside the school. “Some people, maybe.”

“Well, others, most, really,” Donghyuck said as they passed through the doors and entered the school. “see you as that cool, mysterious kid that’s too intimidating to approach.”

There are a decent number of people roaming the halls. There is a little over half an hour before classes begin so Mark and Donghyuck are far from the only people in school already. Mark will admit that he was already used to early mornings and late nights alone at school but he also missed coming in minutes before the first bell rang.

“I’m not intimidating.” the small pout in Mark’s face made Donghyuck laugh, a sound that made Mark’s heart swell in pride because Donghyuck was laughing in his presence and Mark wanted to commit it to memory like everything else that was Lee Donghyuck.

“Oh, we have first period together!” Donghyuck skipped once to fall one step in front of Mark as he started to walk backwards.

His smile was blinding and Mark was almost sure it would hurt not to smile back. “Can we stop by my locker first? I want to drop some things off.”

“Of course.” Donghyuck agreed easily before turning to walk properly, still one step ahead of Mark and the older took this chance to glance at Donghyuck all he wanted.

As they walked, Donghyuck wouldn’t turn back to look at Mark. He could feel the older glancing at him every three steps and it wasn’t good for his heart. He held the thermos to his chest in an attempt to put his mind to something else but feeling Mark’s gaze on him made him forget he was holding something in the first place.

Mark’s locker was one corner away, but Donghyuck kept moving forward. Laughing, Mark held onto Donghyuck’s hand and tugged him to a halt, the younger flushing with a rose blush at Mark’s fingers laced between his and Mark was giving him an amused smile.

“Wrong way, Hyuck.” Mark whispered as he led Donghyuck to the correct direction. Donghyuck’s heart was drumming in his ears so loud that he was surprised his ears weren’t ringing yet.

Donghyuck looked at their joint hands and smiled to himself. “O-Oh, sorry.”

Mark doesn’t let go of his hand even when they reach his locker, or even when they reach their classroom, and Donghyuck is suddenly aware of the thermos in his other hand, half-full will coffee meant for the boy that had his fingers laced through his own.

They go to Donghyuck’s desk first, Mark dropping Donghyuck’s bag on his chair with an amount of care that Donghyuck thought it was a little excessive considering he was one to throw his bag from wall to wall. Mark is still holding his hand and Donghyuck didn’t want to let go either.

“Oh, Mark, here.” Donghyuck gave himself a mental pat on the back when he managed to speak rather than squeak. He held his other hand out to the boy, handing him the thermos.

“Oh, right.” Mark smiled and accepted the thermos, finally letting go of Donghyuck’s hand. “Thanks, Hyuck. I’ll return it later.”

Donghyuck rolled his eyes in a silent comment and Mark poked his side to get a smile from the younger. Donghyuck squirmed away, laughing. “Mark, no! Go away.”

Mark pretended to be hurt when Donghyuck smacked the back of his hand on Mark’s shoulder. Donghyuck laughs as he waves Mark away to his own seat, the older twisting off the cap of the thermos to take a hearty sip of the hot drink.

* * *

Lunch rolls around quickly and once again Donghyuck is the table’s target. Donghyuck was more than happy to tease and annoy Chenle but the younger decided to turn the tables on Donghyuck and the others were glad to comply.

“Well, at least I’m not like you,” Chenle said in perfect mimicry of Donghyuck’s nasally tone. “ _I_ can admit when I’m crushing on someone.”

Chenle wasn’t lying. His crush on Jisung is common knowledge to everyone in the table _but_ Jisung, whose head is too far up in the clouds to look under his nose.

“What do you mean?” Donghyuck intoned.

Jisung and Jeno scoffed at the question, Jaemin humming to himself as he picked at his food.

“So, are you and Mark dating yet?” Renjun started as he smiled at cheekily at Donghyuck.

“It’s, uhh, not a big deal, really.” Donghyuck tried to look away from his friends’ obviously teasing stares, which was to no avail seeing as how he was sat in the middle of everyone.

Jisung scoffed. “Sure, but you like him, right?”

“That doesn’t matter.” Donghyuck raised his nose, which was a mistake because it only brought his red-tinted ears more into view.

Jaemin spluttered. “Of course, it does! He likes you, you like him, how doesn’t it matter?”

Donghyuck blanked. “I... how do you know he likes me?”

The whole table looks at Donghyuck as if he’s said the most idiotic thing he’s ever said to date, which in their minds, it was. Donghyuck looked at each and every one of his friends, his confused and flustered expression meeting their dumbfounded and almost insulted ones.

“Because he’s looking at you right now like you’re the only person in the room.” Chenle intoned monotonously. Donghyuck raised a brow at Chenle and risked a glance at Mark’s table, the red of his ears travelling to his cheeks when he locks eyes with the older and sees the way Mark’s smile broadened before he winked at Donghyuck and forced his attention back to his own table.

“Aww, you’re blushing.” Jeno cooed as Chenle reached over to pinch his cheeks.

Donghyuck whined, voice cracking in embarrassment. “No, I’m not.”

“Okay, fine, okay, fine.” Renjun laughed. “But you have to be next level dumb to not see that he likes you.”

“I never said I was next level dumb.” Donghyuck deadpanned with a quick roll of his eyes.

He really wasn’t. He could see it, as clear as day, that Mark treated him differently. He could see the care and affection in Mark’s eyes whenever they lock eyes and could hear it in his voice whenever he spoke to Donghyuck. It drove Donghyuck crazy because he knew in himself that he was able to muster up feelings just as intense when it came to Mark.

“Then make your move.” Chenle laughed, and that was the end of the conversation.

It doesn’t come back to Donghyuck until he and Mark are locked away in Donghyuck’s bedroom, Mark had his back against Donghyuck’s nightstand, Donghyuck’s lamp shining brightly above him as he thumbed on the book on his lap. Donghyuck was on his bed, on his stomache and his cheek pillowed by his folded elbow as he steals glances at Mark from where he was pretending to be focused on his phone.

The night passed by quickly. They ate dinner in Donghyuck’s room whilst doing homework and after that they took turns in the shower, like how they did last night. They talked a little until Donghyuck turned off the lights and switched on the lamp and Mark whipped out a book to read to sleep. Donghyuck would have opened the lights again to not hurt Mark’s eyes but the older was adamant on keeping it closed.

He and Mark were too awake to go to sleep, Mark wanting to catch up on his reading and Donghyuck not wanting the day to end without finally talking to Mark about whether or not the boy liked him back. He trusted Mark enough to know that if his feelings weren’t reciprocated, Mark wasn’t going to shy away from Donghyuck. And that was enough comfort for Donghyuck to risk his pride and confidence and let himself tell Mark that he was hopelessly crushing on him.

“Hey, Mark?” he finally cracks the comfortable silence in his lamp-lit room.

“Yeah?” Mark mumbled as he turned a page.

But Donghyuck would not be Donghyuck if he wasn’t prone to sending people into second-long heart attacks.

“You like me, right?” he asked. He sees the way Mark freezes. Donghyuck is suddenly double-guessing everything. Even with the assurance of Jaehyun and Mark’s conversation and his own observed signs, Donghyuck suddenly isn’t as sure as he thought he was that Mark liked him the way Donghyuck liked Mark.

Maybe he really was overthinking things and Mark only saw him as a close friend. Maybe his trust in Mark was misplaced and Mark would become awkward now that he knew Donghyuck had feelings for him.

Donghyuck bites on his bottom lip, gnawing at the flesh as he watched Mark’s movements, or lack of. A beat passes before Mark finally moves, closing his book and setting it to his other side before moving closer to Donghyuck’s bed.

He looks at Donghyuck intently, picking out the colours in his eyes and looking for that now-familiar glint that meant Donghyuck was teasing. He doesn’t find it and his heart quickens its pace again at the conclusion that Donghyuck was asking him a genuine question.

He was asking Mark if he liked him, like Mark hasn’t made that blatantly obvious already.

“Yeah,” Mark answers under his breath as he props his arm on the side of Donghyuck’s mattress and placing his chin on top, much like how he was earlier in the morning. He looks at Donghyuck seriously. “I do.”

Donghyuck smiles, his heart skipping beats at a time. “Really?”

Donghyuck looked a kind of vulnerable at the moment, the type that Mark was fighting the urge to cocoon Donghyuck in his blanket and hold him in his arms until he fell asleep. Mark nodded, chucking. “Yeah, really.”

“That’s good, then.” Donghyuck hummed. “Because I like you, too.”

Mark leaned forward and placed his lips on Donghyuck’s forehead, the action making Donghyuck gasp but smile widely after. Mark grinned at Donghyuck’s expression and couldn’t resist giving Donghyuck’s forehead another kiss.

Mark’s lips on his skin are soft and feathery and gentle and sent a frisson of bubble-headedness all over Donghyuck until it reached the tips of his toes and the pads of his fingers. Donghyuck wanted nothing more than to pull Mark next to him and fall asleep with his head tucked under the older’s chin.

“That’s good.” Mark repeats Donghyuck’s words as he pulls Donghyuck’s blanket to his shoulders. “I don’t know what I’ll do if you didn’t.”

He cups Donghyuck’s cheek after tucking him in, pinching the skin gently and tapping the tip of his nose, Donghyuck crinkling it in reflex.

“You don’t have to find out.” Donghyuck yawned and Mark smiled at the sight.

“Thank God, then.” Mark lightly jested, placing a third kiss on Donghyuck’s forehead before closing Donghyuck’s lamp and tucking himself in the futon.

“Good night, ghost boy.”

Mark smiled as the nickname warmed his heart and closed his eyes. “Good night, Hyuckie.”

They fall asleep with phantoms of smiles curving their lips, Donghyuck letting out a small giggle before finally slipping to sleep.


	12. Chapter 12

Mark wakes up earlier than Donghyuck again, once again leaning on the side of Donghyuck’s bed and smiling fondly at the still deeply asleep boy. He drew the curtains when he woke up to let the sunlight in so that he could see the way Donghyuck’s sun-kissed skin glowed under the early morning light.

He takes in the slope of Donghyuck’s nose, up to his eyelashes that make his breath hitch whenever they’re bat in his direction. He suppresses the urge to kiss Donghyuck’s forehead, something he knows he’ll fall into the habit of sooner or later.

Mark doesn’t realize that he’s reached out to hold Donghyuck’s hand until he feels his thumb carefully stroking the knuckles of Donghyuck’s fingers. He grazes the dorsal of his hand for a moment before going back to Donghyuck’s knuckles and turning his gaze back to the sleeping boy’s face.

His lips are parted by a little under an inch and a streak of saliva is trailing down from the corner of his lips. Mark finds it endearing; to see Donghyuck in a state as vulnerable as slumber. He looks every bit of calm and peaceful that a good night’s sleep brings and Mark’s heart swells happily at the fact that this is the sight he wakes up to.

He couldn’t keep Donghyuck’s pseudo-stunt out of his mind. The boy was going to be the death of him, outright asking him if he had feelings for him.

But yes, Mark does. He likes Donghyuck so, so much and he’s close to not knowing what to do about them.

“Donghyuck, it’s time to wake up.” he whispered, poking Donghyuck’s cheek gently, close to the beauty mark under his eye. Mark thinks he likes that one a little more than the others. “Hyuckie, wake up.”

Donghyuck furrowed his brows and rolled over, groaning. “Don’t wanna.”

Mark chuckled at the boy, enamored with how every little thing Donghyuck did made his heart weak. He sat on Donghyuck’s bed and shook his arm only for it to be pulled from his grasp and tucked into Donghyuck’s chest, whining in a small voice as he did so.

Mark chuckles at the boy before he leans over Donghyuck’s ear and puckers his lips. He takes a small breath in before blowing into Donghyuck’s ear. Donghyuck flinches at the air being blown into his ear but makes no move to open his eyes. He whines again, hoping it would coax Mark to stop tickling him.

“Donghyuck, wake up.” he whispered into the boy’s ear before blowing air into his ear again.

Donghyuck rolls over with another whine, opening his eyes to sleepily glare at Mark. “I hate you.”

Mark takes Donghyuck’s nose in his fingers, earning _another_ whine (Mark loves the sound, he can’t get enough of it), as he laughs again. “No, you don’t. But you _do_ have to get up.”

Donghyuck shakes his head and holds on to Mark’s arms, tugging him close. “No, we have time. Stay in bed with me for a little.”

“I thought you didn’t want to risk any funny business?” Mark teased as Donghyuck tugged at his arms. Donghyuck stops, looks up at Mark, and pouts in that way he knows almost no one can resist and certainly not Mark.

Donghyuck’s heart leaps at how Mark’s eyes visibly softens, almost as if he was hypnotized, along with Mark’s entire body as he melts at the sight of Donghyuck’s pout. He shakes his shoulders a little, just to tease Mark, and he almost gasps when he sees how awe-struck Mark looks.

He did that. He can’t believe he _did_ that. And all he did was pout.

Mark sighs, part-defeat and part-amusement, and lifts his feet off the side of Donghyuck’s bed and lies down next to the younger boy, who quickly throws one of Mark’s arms over his own side as he snuggles into Mark’s chest.

Mark smiles as he cards his fingers through the crown of Donghyuck’s head and Donghyuck sighs in content, closing his eyes again. He wouldn’t dare fall back asleep, his heart wouldn’t let him with how rapid it was currently beating.

“Five minutes, you got it?” Mark murmured as he took in the warmth of Donghyuck’s body pressed to his. He pulled Donghyuck closer to him and leaned down to press a kiss on the top of Donghyuck’s head. “I’m supposed to be out the door in maybe half an hour.”

“Okay.” Donghyuck relents as he takes in the subtle scent of peppermint from Mark. He smiles to himself, loving the way Mark was holding him as if it was second nature. He loved this, Mark waking him up. It was a silly thought but Donghyuck wished there was more of this in the future.

“I like you.” Donghyuck whispered after a short silence. The fingers on his hair paused before carding through his hair again. He tilted his head up and locked eyes with Mark, who was smiling as he looked down at Donghyuck.

“I know.” Mark said, voice soft and sincere. “I like you, too. Like, a lot.”

Donghyuck laughed, biting his lip to stop his smile from growing any larger. He copied Mark’s tone. “I know.”

Mark chuckled and sat up, pulling Donghyuck with him. With both hands, he flattened Donghyuck’s hair, mussed from his sleep and tousled from Mark’s fingers, as he spoke, still soft and sincere. “Does that mean you’ll let me take you out on a date?”

“A date?” Donghyuck mused with a tilt of his head. Going on a date with Mark was something months ago Donghyuck would never have entertained; but right now and many days prior, it must have been at the top of Donghyuck’s wish list. His stomache was filled with butterflies, their wings hitting every inch of his insides that Donghyuck deemed himself lucky to be sitting down because his legs would have given up otherwise.

Mark nodded, hands falling to Donghyuck’s shoulders. “A date. And if you still like me by the end of it, maybe be my boyfriend?”

If he _still_ liked him. Mark clearly doesn’t give himself enough credit. Donghyuck can barely process how much he liked Mark, and here Mark was, talking as if there was a sliver of a chance Donghyuck’s feelings would be changing anytime soon.

If they were, the feelings would only be growing stronger, because every day Donghyuck finds new about Mark that he likes, or something about Mark that he starts to like more than he did yesterday.

This morning, Donghyuck found out he likes how much Mark is affected by his pouts. He also found out that he likes how Mark pats his head after smoothing down his hair. He hasn’t been awake for half an hour.

“I don’t know...” Donghyuck hummed, schooling a look of thought. He glanced at Mark and the two of them let out a small laugh. “I don’t think I’ll stop liking you anytime soon, though.”

Mark feels his cheeks pinching from smiling too much. He leans forward and kisses Donghyuck’s nose, hearing the younger squeak in surprise. “Saturday, then.”

“Impatient, are we?” Donghyuck teased.

Mark chuckled and pulled Donghyuck into his arms, blowing a raspberry into Donghyuck’s sensitive neck, the younger giggling as he half-heartedly tried to pry Mark away from him. “I can’t wait to ask you to be my boyfriend.”

“You can do it now.” Donghyuck jested.

Mark has made it clear that he was a hopeless romantic. Donghyuck knew that even before he _knew_ Mark. He’s made it clear that he likes grand romantic gestures as much as he values the little things. Maybe it was the bookworm in him that brought this aspect of Mark out, or maybe Mark was always like this. Either way, Donghyuck was all for it.

He liked how Mark looked when he thought of something he wanted to do. Donghyuck _loved_ that Mark wanted to do it with him.

Mark propped his chin on Donghyuck’s shoulder and shook his head, letting his eyes flicker to Donghyuck’s small smirk before back to his eyes. “Do you really want me to ask you when we’ve both barely rolled out of bed?”

“Do you have the guts to?” Donghyuck challenged. Mark laughed and kissed Donghyuck’s nose, getting another small squeak. He unwrapped his arms from around the younger boy and stood up, heading to the bathroom to shower.

“I do, I just don’t want to.” Mark intoned with a chuckle before closing the door behind him and locking himself inside Donghyuck’s bathroom.

Donghyuck scoffed as he stared at the closed door, feeling his heart pumping blood directly to his cheeks at a pace faster that Donghyuck could think. He could still feel Mark’s lips on his neck, blowing on it with that boisterous charm Mark Lee possessed and made Donghyuck feel like putty in his hands.

“God, I like him.” Donghyuck said to himself before going to make his bed whilst he waited for Mark to finish showering.

It takes Mark ten minutes to get ready and Donghyuck instantly grins at the smell of peppermint coming from his bathroom. Donghyuck is moderately convinced that he’s a victim of Pavlov’s condition with the aroma of peppermint. The scent makes him think of Mark without him even realizing it, and before Donghyuck knows it, he’s grinning like the lovesick puppy that he is.

“Bathroom’s all your’s.” Mark says as he steps out of the bathroom and sits on Donghyuck’s bed.

Donghyuck chuckles and sits next to Mark, wrapping his arms around Mark’s torso and burying his nose in the crook of Mark’s next. “You’ve been here two days and you’re already at home.”

Mark chuckled as he continued to rummage through his bag for a beanie to wear. He feels Donghyuck’s arms around him loosen as Donghyuck moves his face from his neck to his chest. “And _you_ are getting clingier by the day.”

Donghyuck wants to be frustrated about how Mark has ruined the smell of mint for him; for weeks now Donghyuck will always and only associate anything that smells of mint to beanies and the smallest of dimples.

“What do you mean?” Donghyuck feigned ignorance as he took a hearty whiff of Mark’s peppermint scent mixed with his fabric softener before letting go and standing. “I’m always clingy.”

Mark doesn’t reply, only smiles fondly as Donghyuck disappears into the bathroom. He takes out a red beanie and closes his bag, placing it back in its place next to Donghyuck’s nightstand where all his other things are.

As he’s making sure his bags look neat on the floor, he looks up and notices Donghyuck’s perfume bottle. The phantom touch of Donghyuck’s nose on his neck makes Mark smile as he stands and takes the perfume bottle, spritzing the mandarin, lemon, and jasmine scent onto his beanie before placing the bottle back onto the table and slipping his beanie onto his head. He slips one arm over one of his school bag’s straps, not bothering with the other.

He takes Donghyuck’s car keys next to the perfume bottle and heads to the door, quickly throwing himself back inside Donghyuck’s room before he was two steps out when he hears sounds from the stairs, most likely headed to the kitchen to prepare breakfast.

“Shite.” Mark curses to himself as he tries to think of a plan to get out of the house unnoticed.

He spots Donghyuck’s bedroom window, and gulps.

The worst that could happen is a sprained ankle and Mark just has to keep his mouth shut and not yell so that Donghyuck’s parents wouldn’t go outside to check what the commotion was about. Mark was stealthy, he knew that, and he had good reflexes. He was an athlete, for crying out loud.

He kissed his teeth and went to Donghyuck’s bed, opening the window and peering past the porch’s roof to estimate how high of a jump it would be. It wasn’t the highest jump Mark has made in his life, but it was still pretty high, considering he was on the second floor.

With a huff, he climbs out of Donghyuck’s window and onto the roof.

“Okay, you got this.” Mark said to himself as he rolled his shoulders back and inched to the edge of the roof. He slipped his other arm over his bag’s strap and held Donghyuck’s key tightly.

He could totally make that jump.

He jumps and his feet leave the roof. Four seconds later he’s on the cement pavement, his right knee clicking from the impact but it was expected from jumping such a distance. He chuckles in disbelief, pulling his beanie up to show a little of his forehead and goes to Donghyuck’s car to wait for the younger.

When Donghyuck gets out of the shower, his brows furrow at the opened window and the little creases on his bed. He was sure that the window was closed earlier and he was positive that his bed was made perfectly; even if he and Mark sat on it before he showered, there shouldn’t be any creases in the middle of it.

He shrugs it off and closes his window and heads down to the kitchen for breakfast.

“Did you... jump out of my window?” Donghyuck asked as he slips into the passenger seat, two tupperwares and a thermos in his arms.

“Maybe.” Mark answered sheepishly whilst Donghyuck threw his schoolbag to the backseat next to where Mark’s was.

Donghyuck looked at him with a questioning gaze, before he laughed and shook his head admirably. “You’re crazy.”

Mark starts the car, glances at Donghyuck to wink at the younger, before pulling out of the driveway. “I’m crazy for you.”

“You’re cheesy, too.” Donghyuck noted with a smile as he opened the tupperwares to reveal triangle-shaped sandwiches inside one and fruits in the other. Donghyuck takes a sandwich and raises it to Mark’s lips. “Ahh.”

Mark opens his mouth, focus still on the road, and takes a bite of the peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Donghyuck takes a bite after him and when he sees Mark has finished chewing, he feeds the older a grape. The whole ride consists of Donghyuck feeding Mark and himself and the two of them chatting about everything and nothing, giddy giggles escaping their lips every dozen or so sentence.

“We’re here.” Mark announces as he parks the car. He takes the key out of the ignition and twists his body to face Donghyuck, who had half of his body in the space between the seats. He exchanged the empty tupperwares for their school bags, which Mark quickly takes into his lap for him to carry.

Donghyuck juts his bottom lip out, his eyes on his bag as if his narrowed eyes can call his bag to his own lap. “I can carry my bag.”

“Yes, but you haven’t taken a sip of coffee so you focus on drinking your half and I’ll walk you to your classroom.” Mark declared as he slipped his bag over his shoulders and then Donghyuck’s halfway, and then steps out of the car.

Donghyuck follows Mark out but doesn’t make a move to leave the side of his car. Mark turns when he realizes that Donghyuck wasn’t walking with him and turns to raise a questioning brow at the younger. Donghyuck pouts again and raises the hand that wasn’t carrying the thermos, his fingers clenching and unclenching as he held it out for Mark to take. Mark laughs, completely smitten, and walks until he’s in front of Donghyuck.

“You, are such a baby.” Mark simpered as he laced his fingers between Donghyuck’s and his other hand found a place on Donghyuck’s hip, gently pushing the boy until his back was against the passenger door.

Donghyuck lowered their hands to rest on their sides, smiling contently when Mark leaned closer to kiss him on the forehead. He blushes at the realization that they weren’t the only people in the car park but doesn’t dwell on it.

“You baby me.” Donghyuck answered easily, as if it was Mark’s fault and that he should take responsibility for Donghyuck’s innate tendency to act younger than his age.

Mark chuckled and kissed under Donghyuck’s eye, where the beauty mark was. “Yes, because soon, you’ll be my baby.”

The thought makes Donghyuck’s heart race. He never took Mark as one for pet names, but considering the boy’s love for novels, Donghyuck is sure that Mark has a labyrinth of nicknames that he was going to use against Donghyuck in the very near future. Donghyuck wasn’t ready for that but he wasn’t going to back out of it either. He’ll survive somehow.

“Are you that confident in yourself, Mark Lee?” Donghyuck teased, nudging Mark’s nose with his. The touch sent butterflies to both Mark and Donghyuck.

Mark laughed, the chuckle sounding all the more otherworldly because of how close they were. Donghyuck knew he was in deep but he couldn’t be any gladder that he was. Mark stepped back and tugged Donghyuck to walk, his hand tightening around Donghyuck’s. Donghyuck instantly fell into step next to Mark, slightly swinging their hands between them.

“Wait, I can’t open it.” Donghyuck sulked as he glared at the cap of the thermos whilst he and Mark passed through the doors.

Mark laughed and stopped walking. He took in the way Donghyuck was rather childishly giving the inanimate object a dirty look before using his free hand to unscrew the cap of the thermos. “There, happy?”

“Very.” Donghyuck beamed and they continued walking.

“Okay, where’s your first class?” Mark asked after Donghyuck had taken a sip of the coffee.

The first half of the day goes by uneventfully until the period before lunch, which was Health, and Donghyuck would be lying if he said he didn’t almost swoon when he sees Mark waiting for him outside of the classroom so they could walk together.

How Mark knew where Donghyuck’s class before Health was, Donghyuck wasn’t going to question.

“Hello.” Donghyuck smiled as he stayed in place, Jisung next to him. He held his arm out towards Mark and clenched and unclenched his fingers, Mark instantly laughing and pushing himself off the locker he was leaning on to walk to the middle of the hallway and take Donghyuck’s hand.

“Seriously, you’re such a baby.” Mark commented as he dropped their now joined hands.

Donghyuck never understood how Jaemin and Jeno managed to act like they missed each other when they were only apart for the night and saw each other first thing in the morning until the end of the day, but now he can. The last time he saw Mark was when the older dropped him off in his class, which was two hours ago yet here he was, feeling as if two hours was as long as two days.

How did he live not feeling this way about Mark before? Mark, who jumped out of his window this morning and read book after book and wore a beanie everywhere he went and looked at Donghyuck like he was a source of light.

“You two are...” Jisung doesn’t finish his comment in honour of shaking his head in both displeasure and amusement. “Tone it down; I’m not used to it.”

Donghyuck laughed as the three of them walked, his thumb and Mark’s in the middle of a playful wrestling match. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Jisung made it clear that he was glaring at Mark and Donghyuck’s hands before huffing. “Fine, be that way.”

Before Donghyuck can retort, they reach Jisung’s classroom and the youngest waves them off. Once Jisung is inside the classroom, Mark pulls Donghyuck to him so that they were walking closer to each other, the younger all but complying until their shoulders touched every other step.

“How was your morning?” Donghyuck asked as they walked.

Mark smiled. “Well, I just got out of a class with Renjun and Jeno, and those two together with Lucas...”

Donghyuck laughed as Mark trailed off. An idea popped into his head and he smiled hopefully at Mark, the older raising a questioning brow at Donghyuck when he noticed, prompting the younger to speak. Donghyuck didn’t need to know that Mark already agreed to whatever it is that Donghyuck wanted to happen, even when Donghyuck hadn’t even asked Mark anything yet.

“How about,” he paused for dramatic effect. “we all sit together at lunch today? I’m sure we can find a table big enough for all of us to fit. And it’s about time they got to know each other, right? They’re going to get along so well.”

Mark hummed in contemplation as they stopped in front of their classroom. He stands in front of Donghyuck and raises their clasped hands and brings it up to Donghyuck’s face, using two fingers to pinch his nose. Donghyuck whined and tried to bite Mark’s hand but ends up with his teeth on his own skin with a swift flick of Mark’s wrist.

“Fuck, didn’t think that through.” he whispered under his breath. Mark laughed and kissed Donghyuck’s thumb in an attempt to soothe the already faded pain on the finger.

Donghyuck blushes and Mark takes it as his cue to answer Donghyuck’s proposal. “We have this class with Jaemin and Jaehyun, so let’s run it by them, how’s that sound?”

The bell rings, signaling the start of their next class, and Donghyuck titters as he lets go of Mark’s hand and opens the door. “Sounds great.”

Donghyuck’s smile is so sweet and natural that Mark is close to being angry with himself for having as much self-control as he did because there wasn’t a lot of things he wanted to do more than to pull Donghyuck close and kiss him until his lips were red and his breath was short.

“Donghyuck, there you are!” Jaemin said when he sees his friend enter the room.

“Mark!” Jaehyun calls as soon as Mark goes through the door. Mark and Donghyuck share one last look before they go to sit next to their respective friends, a promise of sitting with each other at lunch hiding behind their smiles.

“You’re happy today.” Jaemin notes as Donghyuck settles in the seat next to him. He looks over Donghyuck’s shoulder and sees Mark and Jaehyun talking in their seats, Mark sporting the same easy grin Donghyuck was.

“What do you mean?” Donghyuck asked and then was instantly overcome with the urge to giggle at the frisson of Deja vu. Mark really was taking up his whole entire being and he didn’t see it coming until it was too late. “I’m always happy.”


	13. Chapter 13

As they expected, Mark’s and Donghyuck’s friends got along almost instantly. They were already familiar with each other to begin with, just never had the chance or the reason to interact for more than a handful of minutes.

They found a table big enough to fit the ten of them, right in the middle of the cafeteria as if they needed any more reason for attention to be on them. Chenle and Renjun have reeled Lucas in with their habit of talking Chinese to each other— Chenle and Renjun that they weren’t talking of anything bad, but the others were always almost certain that they were insulting them in a language they didn’t understand. Jisung’s anxiety of being the topic of the three’s insults led Johnny and Jeno to coo and laugh at the boy, whilst Jaehyun and Jaemin tapped away on their phones in search for voice-to-text translations of what was being said.

It was easily forgotten that Mark and Donghyuck set this up in the first place. It felt as if they’ve been one big group for the better part of the year and Mark and Donghyuck were left to themselves after the initial teasing and questions from their friends were replaced with them warming up to each other.

Next to Donghyuck, Mark was reading, half of a sandwich between his teeth as his eyes passed by the words. Donghyuck felt his lower lip jut out at the lack of attention, so latched himself onto Mark’s arm and placed his chin on the deltoid of Mark’s shoulder.

It’s a couple of beats more before Mark finally turns to him, automatically smiling at Donghyuck before pursing his lips so that more of his sandwich was inside his mouth for him to chew.

Donghyuck tilts his head, a silent request for Mark to do _some_ thing. Mark raises a brow, a silent challenge for Donghyuck to make the first move.

So Donghyuck does. He cranes his neck, takes a bite from the other end of Mark’s sandwich, and detaches himself from Mark completely and goes back to his food. He stifles a laugh at Mark’s flustered reaction and instead focuses on the other people on the table to calm his rapidly beating heart.

Donghyuck catches Renjun’s eye, who tilts his nose in the air as he says something in Chinese, clear and fluid and Donghyuck just _knows_ that if he understood what was said, Renjun would receive a kick in the face, Chenle and Lucas turning to Donghyuck and Mark before bursting into laughs.

Jeno also turns to the end of the table where Mark and Donghyuck are sat, stifling his own laugh. It’s not like he knew what the three were laughing about, the chortles were simply contagious. “Don’t worry; I’m sure Renjun said you two are cute.”

“I don’t need his opinion.” Donghyuck sticks his nose out at Renjun, who copies the gesture automatically. He feels Mark snicker from next to him and he smiles before turning back to his food.

Both Renjun and Donghyuck know that it isn't true. Donghyuck valued his friends' opinions a lot, but he also trusted them to tell him if their opinions about something weren't what Donghyuck wanted them to be; so if Renjuun had a problem about him and/or Mark, or anything at all, Donghyuck knew that Renjun will voice it out as soon as possible.

Lunch ends with Mark buying Donghyuck a can of iced coffee and one for himself as well, their friends teasing them about how their dates probably consisted of cafe hopping and overdosing on caffeine. Donghyuck laughs and turns to Mark with a raised brow.

“If that’s what you’re planning this weekend then I’m never letting it go.” he teased as Mark walked him to his next class, which conveniently was next to Mark’s. Jisung, Johnny, and Lucas were trailing behind them, their own classrooms in the same direction.

Mark chuckled and clicked their cans together before taking a sip. “You’ll see.”

* * *

Soccer practice is cancelled that day due to the rain, so Mark and Donghyuck are in Donghyuck’s living room, watching late afternoon shows as they snacked on sandwiches that they made when they got home. Mark would be worried that he’d have trouble sneaking into Donghyuck’s bedroom at the end of the day if his parents come home with Mark still in the living room, but Donghyuck insisted that he wanted to watch television with Mark instead of holing up in his room.

And who was Mark to deny Donghyuck anything when Donghyuck would tilt his head and stick his lower lip out and shake Mark’s arm cutely in a small tantrum. Not that he needed to do any of those because as much as Mark didn’t want to admit it, he’d spoil Donghyuck to an inch of his life if he was given the chance to.

“You know,” Donghyuck started as Mark’s fingers threaded his hair. He had somehow ended up with his head on Mark’s lap within half an hour. “you can have dinner with us tonight and then climb up my window when it’s time to go to bed.”

“And how, pray tell, will I do that?” Mark mused. Jumping down the window was one thing, climbing up was another thing entirely. There wasn’t a tree that Mark could climb, not that he was confident in his tree climbing abilities and Mark doubted that Donghyuck thought he could fly.

Donghyuck hummed as he looked up at Mark. “There’s a ladder by the side of the house. It reaches until the porch roof.”

Mark raised a pleasantly surprised eyebrow as his hand stopped from going through Donghyuck’s hair. “And how many people have you had climb up your window for you to have a ladder set up?”

Donghyuck knows the game Mark is playing and he refuses to let the other boy think that Donghyuck lets just anyone climb up his bedroom window. Climbing up someone’s window was practically the equivalent of secret relationships, or late-night road trips, or whatever else reason someone needed to go in and out of a window.

Donghyuck sits up and faces Mark, instantly wrapping his arms around Mark’s neck and burying his face in his chest. “I lock Jaemin and Renjun out sometimes so they climb up my window when I do.”

Mark imagined Jaemin and Renjun knocking on Donghyuck’s bedroom window, Jaemin loudly complaining and Renjun quietly seething as Donghyuck paid them no mind from inside pretending to be busy, or sitting in the middle of his bed and staring at the boy on the other side of the window with a straight face on. He imagined Jeno, Chenle, and Jisung laughing and only opening the window after.

“Mhmm...” Mark faked an unimpressed tone. His arms found themselves around Donghyuck’s waist, pulling the boy closer until he was almost cradling the boy like one would a baby.

Donghyuck looked up at Mark, pouting smally. “Is ghost boy jealous?”

Mark smiled and pinched Donghyuck’s side playfully. “Nah. But will your parents be okay with me staying for dinner?”

“Of course, they will.” Donghyuck smiled. “They’ll love you, don’t worry.”

“I didn’t know you had your boyfriend over.” a new voice said as the front door opened. Yeonhyuck steps inside, eyeing the way her brother was being held like a baby with a curious but amused glint in her eye.

Donghyuck inches away from Mark, face turning an embarrassed shade of red. “You—!”

Donghyuck couldn’t deny the ‘boyfriend’ part since it was already clear they were going that road. That didn’t mean he wasn’t the least bit flustered to have his sister walk in on them cuddling on the sofa especially when they haven’t even had their first date yet.

Then again, it was their fault for being cuddly before their first date, but Mark was so warm and so cute that Donghyuck just wanted to hug the boy until he no longer remembered what it felt like not to touch him.

Yeonhyuck snickered at her brother before walking over to Mark, reaching a hand out for him to shake. “I don’t believe we met. I’m Yeonhyuck.”

“Mark.” the older boy introduced as he shook her hand. She looked barely 15 yet she acted older than her brother, which wasn’t what Mark expected. He expected Donghyuck’s sister to be like Donghyuck, loud and reckless and childish, but the girl in front of him was calm and composed and maybe the right amount of immature that came with her age.

“Stay for dinner, I’m sure Donghyuck would love that.” she continued as she stepped to the side a second before Donghyuck went to grab her, missing her in the process. “I’m assuming you’ve been the reason he’s been sneaking out at night recently, so if you stay for dinner, that means he would, too.”

She steps away again and Mark reflexively holds on to Donghyuck before the boy could stand and chase his sister around the house. Mark smiled at Yeonhyuck and nodded. “If it’s okay with you, then sure.”

Yeonhyuck smiled at him, one that Mark recognized as the same smile Donghyuck effortlessly produced as well, and then turned to Donghyuck, tilting her head with the smallest hints of a smirk. “Watch out, Hyuckie, your boyfriend might start taking _my_ orders from now on.”

“Alright, let me go.” Donghyuck faked-seethed as he pried Mark’s hands off him and stood. Yeonhyuck laughed and rushed up the stairs, Mark tugging Donghyuck back on the couch. and hugging the boy from behind.

He kisses the nape of Donghyuck’s neck and feels Donghyuck relax into his touch. He smiles and pulls him closer, directing his attention back to the television.

“Your sister isn’t what I expected.” he says after Donghyuck resumes watching the show.

He huffs, voice turning nasally. “Yes, but you listen to _me_ , not her.”

Mark laughed and pinched Donghyuck’s nose. “I’m staying for dinner because you asked me to.”

“Good.” Donghyuck nodded with finality, laughing.

Donghyuck’s parents get home an hour later and Mark and Donghyuck set the table whilst Yeonhyuck helps their mother with dinner. Donghyuck’s father stepped out to buy ice-cream for dessert, claiming that Donghyuck should have informed them beforehand that they were having someone for dinner so that he could have bought the ice-cream before coming home. Mark insisted that he didn’t need to go out of his way to buy ice-cream but Yeonhyuck reiterated that it was a family tradition of sorts to have ice-cream when they have guests over, their mother saying that it must be one of the reasons Donghyuck’s and Yeonhyuck’s friends liked staying over a lot.

“So, Mark, do you have any siblings?” Donghyuck’s mother asked as they ate. Donghyuck looked to Mark, not knowing if family talk was something he wanted at the moment, considering he had run away from home.

Mark nodded as he answered the question with a small smile. “I have two older brothers. The eldest one just finished college whilst the second one started this year.”

She turned to her own kids, glaring at them yet still lovingly. “Your parents must have such a handful at the house, then.”

Mark chuckled as he shook his head, recalling how his parents’ friends complained about how well behaved the three of them were for teenage boys and jokingly wishing their own children were like them. “We’re not as rowdy as Donghyuck is, that’s for sure.”

“Hey!” Donghyuck gasped as he looked at Mark with fake hurt. Mark laughed.

They eat the ice-cream after dinner, Mark smiling as he wiped Donghyuck’s fingers with a tissue when the boy ended up dripping some of the chocolate dessert on his knuckles.

“I swear, you’re a mess.” Mark chuckled as he let go of Donghyuck’s hand.

Donghyuck only shrugged and continued eating his ice-cream, ignoring the knowing glances of both his mother and sister.

“Donghyuck, it’s getting pretty late, I don’t think we should let Mark go home.” his father said after they’ve finished with their ice-cream and Mark and Donghyuck were looking out of the kitchen window to see if the stars were out tonight.

“Oh, then I guess he has to stay the night.” Donghyuck answered easily whilst he gently elbowed Mark, who almost snorted at Donghyuck’s overly nonchalant answer.

Donghyuck’s mother nodded as she took out a bottle of water from the fridge. “You have school tomorrow, though, so don’t stay up too late. Will your parents be okay with you staying over, Mark?”

“Oh, uh, they will but I’ll call to let them know.” Mark said with a smile. It looked like he didn’t need to climb up Donghyuck’s window tonight and by extension, jump out of it tomorrow morning.

Donghyuck and Mark are left downstairs after that, Donghyuck’s family already retreating into their bedrooms and leaving the two of them on the porch to look at the stars that were only partially visible in the sky. They were seated on the porch steps, Donghyuck leaning against the porch’s column whilst Mark was leaning against Donghyuck.

“Told you my parents would like you.” Donghyuck said softly with a short laugh.

Mark chuckled and took Donghyuck’s hand in his. “That’s because they think we’re friends.”

Donghyuck snorted at the statement, turning to give Mark an amused look. “Do you really think they think that?”

He shrugged, and Donghyuck laughed again. Mark might think that, but Donghyuck knew otherwise. His parents _know_ that there’s something there, simply because it would take an ignorant fool not to.

“You know, I like the stars you put up better.” Donghyuck breathed out with a grin. “They were brighter.”

“That’s because they were fairy lights.” Mark intoned.

Donghyuck laughed and shook his head. “You know what I mean.”

“No, I don’t.” Mark pretended. He prodded at Donghyuck’s arm until Donghyuck moved away from the column and leaned into Mark instead. Mark wrapped his arms around Donghyuck’s torso from behind and Donghyuck played with Mark’s hand.

“I like them better because you put them up.” Donghyuck said. “It was like our own little world.”

Mark kissed the crown of Donghyuck’s head before placing his chin on it. “It’s like we’re in our own little world right now, though.”

Donghyuck hummed in approval as he tried half-heartedly to calm the rapid beating of his heart. He didn’t see the need to but he did see the need to breathe and felt if his heart started pacing even a little faster, it would give up on him completely.

“Are you going to talk to your parents soon?” Donghyuck asked as he remembered his mom’s question earlier. Donghyuck decided he wanted to know more about Mark’s family and meet Mark’s brothers. He wondered if his brothers were like him if they got along so well.

Mark hummed with a nod. “Yeah. I have to, right?”

“But right now, let’s just stay in our little world.” Mark sighed wistfully. He never wanted to move to another country, but now he had a whole new reason for wanting to stay. He doesn’t think he can handle being away from Donghyuck after spending every day for the last couple of weeks with him. Call him dramatic, but being half a world away from Donghyuck might as well suck the life out of him.

“Okay.” Donghyuck smiled, eyes soft and fond and voice breathless like the air was kissed out of him. “Let’s stay like this.”

Mark looked at Donghyuck, eyes glossing over every inch of Donghyuck’s face that he could reach. His hand lifts itself and cups Donghyuck’s cheek, his thumb tracing the curve of his cheek.

Donghyuck looked so unreachable before and months ago Mark never wanted to reach for Donghyuck at all. But now he does, and Donghyuck is, and Mark doesn’t know how it took him years to realize he wants to be closer to Donghyuck every day.

“Mark?” Donghyuck whispered and once again Mark found it hard to control himself.

Mark was a romantic, brought about by the hundreds of novels and stories that he’s read. He didn’t want to simply take Donghyuck’s lips in his own and call that their first kiss. He wanted it to mean as much as it can, when he and Donghyuck share their first kiss.

He wanted to kiss Donghyuck on their date this weekend, wanted their first kiss to be special, but right now, maybe right now will be just as special. Right now, when they’re in their own little world.

Mark’s eyes flicker down to Donghyuck’s lips and his heart skips a beat. He looks back into Donghyuck’s eyes and feels the corners of his lips curve up into a gentle smile. “Can I kiss you, Hyuckie?”

Donghyuck’s breath staggers at the question but he quickly— desperately— regains his composure and tilts his head to the side. He sees the uncertainty in Mark’s eyes and his heartbeat quickens. “Do you have the guts to, ghost boy?”

Mark chuckles and closes the distance, eyes closing shut the same time as Donghyuck’s. He feels his lips against Donghyuck’s and he sucks in a breath at how soft they were, softer than he thought they would be. He adds a little pressure but keeps the kiss soft and light, wanting to let Donghyuck know that Mark was beginning to think the world of him.

It’s a chaste kiss, innocent and timid. Donghyuck could feel the way Mark’s lips brushed against his as delicately like butterfly wings, but it was nothing like the butterflies inside him multiply by every nanosecond his lips stay pressed against Mark’s.

Donghyuck sighs against Mark’s lips before he starts moving against them, taking Mark’s bottom lip between his and licking at the flesh before pulling away.

Mark keeps their foreheads together and keeps his eyes closed as he catches his breath. He doesn’t know why he’s practically panting when they’ve barely done anything but Donghyuck simply does that to him— take his breath away. He can feel Donghyuck catching his breath as well, which only makes him grin wider when Donghyuck’s breathless giggles reached his ears.

Donghyuck is sure that his cheeks and ears are as red as any other rose but he doesn’t care at the moment, not when there’s still the lingering feeling of Mark’s lips on his and he can’t stop himself from grinning from ear-to-ear because _he’s just kissed Mark Lee_ and the butterflies inside him were refusing to calm down and let him breathe.

Mark opens his eyes and meets Donghyuck’s gaze. Their foreheads are still pressed together, their noses barely touching, and the closeness makes Donghyuck break out into a fit of giddy laughs before turning away from Mark in slight embarrassment. He takes his forehead from Mark’s and hides in the boy’s chest, Mark’s arms instinctively wrapping around him more securely as Donghyuck chuckled the last of his giggles.

He was happy, he really was.

And Mark was, too, which made it a hundred times better.

“We have school tomorrow.” he said after he’s managed his breathing. He pulls himself away from Mark and stands to hold a hand out for the older. “Let’s get to bed.”

“You’re just saying that because you want cuddles.” Mark chuckled as he took Donghyuck’s hand. He doesn’t let go even after he’s on his feet and they make their way inside the house.

Donghyuck smiled and led Mark up the stairs. “Maybe.”

Mark chuckled and hugged Donghyuck as the bedroom door opened, throwing the both of them on Donghyuck’s bed after Donghyuck’s door clicked shut.

“Mark.” Donghyuck laughed as he felt Mark’s face on the crook of his neck.

“Nighty, Hyuck.” Mark mumbled cheekily as he pulled Donghyuck closer. Donghyuck smiled and wiggled out of Mark’s grasp as best he can so that he could pull the blankets above them.

Mark quickly wraps himself around Donghyuck again, closing his eyes to sleep. Donghyuck lets out a breathy laugh. “You know, this is why you have a futon.”

As if to prove a point, Mark squishes his face in Donghyuck’s neck and blows a raspberry, the younger squealing at the feeling. Mark knows he was ticklish around his neck and loves to use it against him, something Donghyuck wishes he can be annoyed but can’t find it in himself to.

“Maark...” he whined as he tried to push him away with no real force. If anything, he pulled Mark closer at the last second, loving the warmth he emanated.

“Go to sleep, Hyuckie, we have school tomorrow.” Mark said with playful nonchalance as he rested his head on Donghyuck’s pillow, arms still holding Donghyuck. Donghyuck turns to face Mark, smiling sleepily as he studied Mark’s features. His eyelashes were thick and fluttered close and Donghyuck moved to leave butterfly kisses on each of Mark’s closed eyes.

Mark keeps him close as he inhaled. He doesn’t open his eyes, just holds Donghyuck to his chest as the two of them drift off to sleep.


	14. Chapter 14

“Good morning.” Mark whispered with a sleepy smile when he opened his eyes and saw Donghyuck next to him. Then he felt Donghyuck’s hand on his chest, fingers tracing shapes that Mark would recognize as his name if he wasn’t still hazy with sleep.

Donghyuck’s eyes rose from Mark’s chest to Mark’s eyes and he flushed red. From being caught doing what he was and from remembering what happened last night. He squeaked silently when he caught sight of Mark’s lips and directed his eyes anywhere else.

Mark’s smile became lopsided and he propped himself on his elbows. “Why aren’t you looking at me?”

“Because.” Donghyuck whined.

Mark smirked. “You’re embarrassed?”

It was endering to Mark how Donghyuck could act so embarrassed when Mark wanted nothing more than to kiss him silly over and over again.

“Well, I’m sorry, but you don’t know what you do to me, ghost boy.” Donghyuck groaned with an attempt at a glare. Mark found it charming, though, and pinched the tip of Donghyuck’s nose, getting the whine he expected to receive.

“That is true, but _you_ have no idea of the damage you do to _me_.” Mark whispered and tilted his head to the side with a small leer.

With half-lidded eyes, Donghyuck simpered. He swung one of his legs over Mark’s body, hands on his shoulders. “I guess it’s fair, then.”

Mark’s elbows fold from under him, his head hitting the pillow as Donghyuck kisses him deeply. He smiles against Donghyuck’s lips and kisses him back, teeth grazing the younger’s upper lip gently. It was a languid kiss, compared to last night that meant to speak words, this kiss meant a simple ‘good morning’.

Donghyuck surely had no idea what he did to Mark. He made Mark feel giddy and weak and content. Donghyuck made his hands clammy and stomache flip with a simple laugh. He was a hurricane of butterflies and Mark could sing accolades in his name.

“Good morning.” Donghyuck laughed breathily as they broke the kiss. Mark chuckled and kissed Donghyuck again before tapping the boy’s thigh. Donghyuck rolled off him, sitting up and stretching.

“You should shower now,” Donghyuck said. “unless you want to jump out the window again.”

* * *

It’s during lunch that Mark realizes what day it was.

His date with Donghyuck was tomorrow and he still had no idea how to go about it. He’s had this and that come to mind but the surplus of ideas have left him with no concrete plan for tomorrow.

“Mark, you okay?” Johnny asked.

Mark, wide-eyed, shook his head. “I don’t know what to do for tomorrow.”

“What’s tomorrow?” Lucas asked next.

Mark was sure he was having a mental breakdown. “I’m taking Donghyuck out on a date. And I don’t know what to do! How do I not know what to do?”

Jaehyun winced. “Sorry, man, I can’t even ask my crush out.”

Lucas and Johnny laughed whilst Mark groaned again. Lucas patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, Mark, I’m sure you can brainstorm some ideas.”

On the other side of the cafeteria, Donghyuck was having a mental breakdown of his own. He had no idea what to expect for his date with Mark tomorrow, which meant he had no idea what to wear as well.

What if he wore something warm and Mark decided to take him to the beach? Or if he wore something loose and they end up ice-skating?

“You know,” Chenle started before Donghyuck could full on break down. “Jaemin and I can drop by your place before your date and fix you up.”

“Please.” Donghyuck all but pleaded; then he remembered that Mark _lived with him_.

Oh no, he was going to have to kick Mark out of his house. Surely, Mark wouldn’t mind staying with Jaehyun or Lucas or Johnny for a night, right? It wouldn’t be weird or suspicious if Mark suddenly wanted a last-minute sleepover with his friends the night before a date.

“Mark, can we talk?” Donghyuck asked. Lunch was almost over and he left his friends at their table to approach Mark.

Mark looked at him, looking the same bit of guilty and hopeful that Donghyuck was as he stood. “Yeah, I think we should.”

Donghyuck blinked. Why did Mark think they needed to talk? Did Mark change his mind about their date tomorrow?

They step out of the cafeteria and they stand in front of each other. It’s silent for a couple of seconds, neither knowing how to start.

“So—“

“Well—“

They laugh when they speak at the same time. Mark takes Donghyuck’s hands in his and holds it between them. Donghyuck smiled softly. “Oh. You go first.”

Mark sighed, busying himself with playing with Donghyuck’s hands lovingly. “No, you.”

Donghyuck kissed his teeth, not meeting Mark in the eye. “Well... I have to kick you out because Jaemin and Chenle are coming over tomorrow to help me get ready.”

He peeked at Mark from his lashes, trying to gauge his reaction, but is mildly confused at the relieved smile that popped up in his face. “Oh, that’s great! I was going to say I’m staying the night at Jaehyun’s because he’s helping me plan for tomorrow.”

Donghyuck laughed, the sound dying down with a dazed sigh. “You’re... perfect, you know that, right?”

He meant to say that whatever Mark has planned was perfect without a doubt, because he’d be with Mark and they’d be together. He supposed that saying Mark was perfect wasn’t a lie either.

“Ah-Ah, Hyuckie, that’s my line.” he taunted lightly as he stepped forward.

“Is it, now?” Donghyuck teased, eyes fluttering closed.

“Yeah...” Mark exhaled before placing a sweet kiss on Donghyuck’s lips. Mark doesn’t think he can ever kiss Donghyuck and not want to burst into flames afterwards. “Let’s get back inside. I’ll walk you to your next class?”

“Okay.” Donghyuck nodded, biting down another Mark-induced grin.

* * *

Donghyuck refuses. Absolutely, completely, without question, outright _refuses_ to be like Jaemin. He’s seething just by the thought of being like _Jaemin_. Jaemin— who sighs and sulks when he lasts more than twenty-four hours without Jeno; who pouts as he thinks about where Jeno might be, or what he might be doing, or where he’s with; who want to talk about everything Jeno because he can’t believe how lucky he is to have Jeno in his life; who’s reminded of Jeno even by the most mediocre things— no, _especially_ by the most mediocre things. Jaemin, who counts the seconds until he can see Jeno again with a big, cheesy grin on his face.

Jaemin is in love, Donghyuck knows that. But that doesn’t mean he wants to be Jaemin-type in love.

He wants to be Donghyuck-type in love, and he seriously and desperately hoped that it was nothing like Jaemin’s.

But here he is, sitting on the foot of his bed with a small pout as Chenle and Jaemin rummaged through his closet. The two have woken him up, demanding he shower as they look for something for him to wear. He’s already done with the shower, now left with his thoughts and the fact that it’s two hours before Mark comes knocking on the front door to take him to lunch, wherever that may be.

“Why is there a futon here?” Chenle finally says. He noticed it the moment he and Jaemin entered the room, taking up the space next to Donghyuck’s bed. He looks at Donghyuck questioningly and doesn’t miss the way Donghyuck’s pout sticks out half a centimeter more and the flush of his cheeks as he looks away.

Chenle leaves Jaemin to rummage Donghyuck’s closet and instead busies himself with looking around Donghyuck’s room. He’s looking for something, anything, to place with the futon on Donghyuck’s bedroom floor. He knows that Donghyuck only ever takes it out when someone sleeps over.

And that’s when Chenle sees it. On Donghyuck’s desk, three steps from the door, is a beanie. It’s made of cotton that looks incredibly soft to the touch, a clean white that made it look even fluffier. Under the beanie is a book, dog-eared and looked its age of a year or two, obviously well-loved and well-kept and clearly not Donghyuck’s.

“Has Mark been here?” Chenle asked with a teasing laugh.

A pause.

“Once or twice.” Donghyuck answered timidly. He wasn’t lying, Mark really has been sleeping over. Maybe four nights already, or five, he wasn’t sure, but it wasn’t once or twice.

Jaemin immediately turns to Donghyuck, gasping dramatically as he places a hand to his chest. “Scandalous.”

At the comment, a pillow is thrown at him. Jaemin chucks it back at Donghyuck before going back to looking for the perfect outfit, a new colour scheme in mind now that he’s seen the beanie on Donghyuck’s desk as well.

“Sh-Shut up.” Donghyuck mumbled, cheeks now a flaring red.

Chenle laughed, not used to seeing Donghyuck as he is now. “At least there’s a futon.”

Donghyuck clears his throat and groans, hiding his face in the pillow that Jaemin threw back at him. Chenle bursts into another roar of laughter, almost falling into the futon from how hard he was cackling.

Half an hour later, Jaemin has dressed Donghyuck in black ripped jeans and a grey shirt with a white denim jacket on top. He takes the beanie from Donghyuck’s desk and smooths it over Donghyuck’s hair, smiling. “And our finishing touch!”

“If Mark is as much of a sap as you say he is, then he’s going to gush at you wearing his beanie.” Chenle winked as he rummaged through his make-up bag and took out the eyeliner he knew made Donghyuck’s eyes pop more than they already did without any make-up on. Jaemin sits Donghyuck down on the bed as Chenle stands from the chair and makes his way to the boy. “Alright, let’s make you pretty.”

“I’m already pretty.” Donghyuck intoned.

“Yes, but we want Mark to get lost in your eyes.” Jaemin answered.

Donghyuck hummed as he smiled. He knew that if he even so much as bat his eyes then Mark was already a goner, eyeliner or no eyeliner.

“Donghyuck, your boyfriend is here!” Yeonhyuck comes into the room a little later, judging eyes scanning the small mess on the futon, where Jaemin had laid out other options for Donghyuck’s attire and is in the middle of cleaning it up, and Chenle and Donghyuck on the bed, the younger applying a nice shade of red on Donghyuck’s lip.

“He’s going to shit himself when he sees you.” Yeonhyuck snickered.

“Boyfriend.” Jaemin wheezed as Chenle finished with the tint.

“Alright, go! Tell us all about it when you get home.” Chenle beamed as he pushed Donghyuck off the bed and Yeonhyuck held the door open for her brother.

Donghyuck bounds down the stairs, every step making his heart race ever crazier than it already was. The reality was finally setting in on him— his first date with Mark. _Mark_. How did he get so lucky? He prays to all the deities that were listening that he not mess this up, because the last thing he wants is Mark to second-guess all the reasons he liked Donghyuck at all.

But Mark wouldn’t do that, because Mark looked at him like he was a source of light and smiled at him like he was happiness in a bottle and held him like he was porcelain and spoke with him like he was the strongest person in the world. And Mark kissed him like he was everything that mattered.

“Is that my beanie?” Mark asked as soon as Donghyuck was in front of him on the porch. His eyes were wide with affection and he looked like Cupid puched him in the gut. Something about Donghyuck wearing his clothes— even if it was only a beanie— was so attractive to Mark.

Donghyuck nodded, sheepish. “Yeah. Is it okay?”

Mark cupped Donghyuck’s cheeks and pecked his lips, smiling at the boy. “It is. You look lovely, by the way, but if you use your baby doll eyes on me with _that_ eyeliner, my heart won’t take it.”

“You’re welcome!” Chenle asked from where he and Jaemin were peeking out of Donghyuck’s bedroom window. Donghyuck rolled his eyes at his friends.

“Don’t give me a reason to, then.” Donghyuck challenged cheekily, ignoring the two— three, if Yeonhyuck was also watching. Mark still smelled of peppermint and still looked as homey as ever and Donghyuck didn’t stop himself from wrapping his arms around Mark’s torso in a hug. “I missed you, ghost boy.”

“Don’t go mushy on me now, Hyuck.” Mark laughed and took Donghyuck’s hand. They started walking away from the front door, towards Jaehyun’s car, which Mark borrowed for the day. “We can do that after, yeah?”

“If I don’t get to be mushy by sundown, I might have to use my baby doll eyes.” Donghyuck faked a sulk, smile lingering in his face.

Mark let go of Donghyuck’s hand to cup his cheeks, opening his mouth as if he was baring his fangs. “I’ll have to bite your little nose, then.”

“Mark!” Donghyuck yelped when the boy did just that, pushing the boy away from him and laughing.

“I’m sorry, let me kiss it better.” Mark chuckled as he held on to Donghyuck by his waist and kissed the tip of his nose, slightly red from his teeth. Donghyuck softened, looking at Mark with as much fond resentment as he can manage and a barely-there pout on his face that Mark wanted to kiss away.

“Are you hungry?” Mark asked instead and opened the door for Donghyuck. “I hope you like Italian, because we’re getting pasta.”

“Yum.” Donghyuck smiled and got inside the car.

When they get to the restaurant, Donghyuck is mostly relieved to find that it wasn’t an over-the-top fancy one. It was casual and a little homey, which meant he and Mark can play around as much as possible because chances are all the other tables were as well.

“This looks good.” Donghyuck commented as he flipped through the pictures in the menu.

Mark chuckled as he watched Donghyuck, seemingly already decided on what he wanted to order. “You like it so far?”

“Of course, I’m on a date with you, the pictures are pretty, and if the smell around the restaurant is anything to go by, the food will be amazing.” Donghyuck said nonchalantly as he continued to flip through the menu.

When Mark doesn’t answer, Donghyuck looks up to see the boy staring at him. He tilts his head in question, not knowing why he was receiving such a funny look. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

Mark scoffed, in that taken way he was, as he shook his head. “Nothing, it’s just... if you had any idea of what you do to me, you’ll take it easy.”

“Ah-ah,” Donghyuck teased with a wag of his finger. “that’s too much faith on me, ghost boy. If anything, I’ll put on 110%.”

“You don’t have to.” Mark said as he raised his hand to call a waiter to their table. “You have my 110% without even doing anything.”

“So, where are you taking me after this?” Donghyuck asked as he leaned over the table. Their food arrived minutes earlier and they’ve started to dig in when Donghyuck decided to ask.

Mark chuckled. “What makes you so sure that I’m not taking you home after this?”

Donghyuck pouted. “Because that wouldn’t be 110%.”

“I already see my error in telling you that.”

Donghyuck laughed. “Why? I like it. Gives me something to use against you.”

“Exactly.” Mark intoned. Then he smiled, chuckling at Donghyuck as he pressed his fork against Donghyuck’s pout. “Don’t pout, it’s too cute.”

“Look, you can’t say things like that and expect me to be breathing fine.” Donghyuck said as he leaned back into his seat and stuffed his mouth with garlic bread. His other hand clutched at his chest, as if to show that he really was having trouble breathing.

Mark laughed again, shaking his head and going back to his food.

After they’ve eaten lunch, they walk out of the restaurant with Donghyuck’s hands curled around Mark’s arm as they giggle to themselves.

“Okay, really, where are we headed to next?” Donghyuck asked as Mark opened the car door for him.

Mark gave Donghyuck a dopey smile before he kissed Donghyuck smack on the lips. “We’re going to the fountain park. It’s hot out today and who doesn’t like playing around in the water?”

“I don’t have extra clothes, though.”

“Don’t worry about that, babe.” Mark said and kissed Donghyuck again. “I brought some for you, too.”

“You called me babe.” Donghyuck smiled. His ears were once again tinged pink at the pet name. He loved the way Mark’s eyes softened when the name fell off his lips so naturally. It made his heart race, exactly like every other thing Mark does.

“I did.” Mark mused. “Now, get on. We don’t have all day.”

Donghyuck placed a hand on Mark’s nape and tugged him closer. “Yes, we do.”

“I know.” Mark whispered and kissed Donghyuck’s nose before he stepped away.

Donghyuck gets inside the car as Mark sidles it to get to the driver’s side.

As Mark drives, Donghyuck keeps the back of his head on the window so that he could look at Mark’s side profile better. They were still halfway through the day and Donghyuck already didn’t want the day to end. But then again, the end of one day meant the start of another, and that meant another day with Mark, and Donghyuck was looking forward to that.

Mark glances at Donghyuck and smiles at him before his hand leaves the wheel and slips between Donghyuck’s fingers.

Mark was driving with one hand now and Donghyuck found it embarrassingly attractive. He smiled fondly. “You’re showing off, are you?”

“No. I just want to hold your hand.” Mark’s thumb grazes Donghyuck’s knuckles as he spoke and Donghyuck held on tighter, letting out one or two of the giggles bubbling inside of him. Mark really had a way with words. Donghyuck decided to go to the library one of these days, just to find where Mark found these lines he was throwing out so effortlessly.

It was going to take all day, hours which he would very much rather spend cuddling with Mark, but oh well. Drastic measures and all that jazz.

“We have five minutes, come on.” Mark said as he parked the car and let go of Donghyuck’s hand, quickly hopping out of the car, leaving Donghyuck with nothing to do but follow his actions.

“Five minutes until what?” Donghyuck asked as Mark took his hand again and started walking to the entrance of the fountain park, where other groups of people were walking around. Bursts of water were sprouting from the holes in the ground on the heart of the park, in a pattern that Donghyuck did not yet have the time to inspect.

“Mark, what’s going on?” he asked between laughs. Mark wasn’t pulling him along too aggressively, but it was clear that they had to be in a specific place at a specific time and that was enough to pique Donghyuck’s interest.

“You’ll see.” Mark simpered as they reached the center of the park. There were still seemingly random bursts of water around them and Donghyuck looked around in an attempt to figure out the pattern. He failed to see the circle that they were standing in the middle of, a good three meter radius.

“What?” Donghyuck asked and looked back at Mark, who was looking at the watch on his wrist.

“Two minutes.” he said in place of an answer. He smiled brightly at Donghyuck and for a beat Donghyuck forgot what he was so curious about in the first place. In the end, Mark was smiling at him like _that_ and how could he wonder about other things right now?

“Okay.” Donghyuck says instead with a nod.

Mark steps closer and takes both of Donghyuck’s hands and holds them between them. He gives Donghyuck a dopey grin that made the younger swoon internally. “Okay, let me be incredibly cliché romantic right now because I’m putting my heart on the line and asking you to be more than friends.”

Donghyuck blushes. He was expecting this, counting down the days to today because he knows that this will happen, but even when he knew and even when he _thought_ he’d prepared for it, he still can’t control the raging butterflies that were flying around inside him.

Mark doesn’t continue after that, which made the insistently overthinking part of Donghyuck’s mind conclude that Mark changed his mind _midsentence_ and was thinking of how to take everything back.

But then all the bursts of water around them stopped. One, two seconds, and Mark beamed.

On the third second, the circle they were in the middle of came to life, trapping Mark and Donghyuck inside the flowing water. It was like a sudden drizzle of rain, only it came from under and above them instead of the other way around.

Right now, like this, it felt like they really were in their own world. Just the two of them.

“Donghyuck, will you be my boyfriend?” Mark asked before Donghyuck could marvel at the experience of being inside a water fountain.

The water around them made Donghyuck’s eyes look like swirling stars and Mark was infatuated. Donghyuck nodded and pulled Mark closer by their joined hands. “Yes, of course. I’ll be your boyfriend.”

Mark smiled and dipped forward, catching Donghyuck in a sweet kiss that lasted for as long as the water around them was up. They were getting wet but they didn’t care, what mattered was that they were together and that Donghyuck allowed Mark to be _incredibly cliché romantic_ right now.

“Did you really think I would say no?” Donghyuck giggled when Mark broke the kiss and pressed their foreheads together. He felt Mark’s tense shoulders soften as they kissed, a sign he was relieved of Donghyuck’s answer as if he didn’t expect it in the least.

The fountain around them disappeared and the random bursts of water began to shoot up again until the next full fountain was due to come, which was in another hour.

Mark nodded, dopey smile still intact. He exhaled. “Maybe.”

“Ghost boy, I really really like you.” Donghyuck said, smile a little more serious than usual despite the utterly ridiculous moniker he used on Mark. “And it’s crazy that you think I can even say no to you, especially with something like this.”

“It’s just...” Mark bit his lip but it didn’t stop the smile at all. “I just really really like you, too, babe.”

“Never thought that name would make me swoon but here I am, weak for the cheesy name.” Donghyuck laughed, throwing his head back and separating from Mark. It didn’t last two seconds because Mark was quick to wrap his arms around Donghyuck’s shoulders in a hug.

He kissed Donghyuck temple. “I’ll take it that you like being called ‘babe’.”

“Mark, we’re soaked.” Donghyuck whined instead of addressing the previous statement. They weren’t _soaked_ , though, but the damp clothes really were starting to become uncomfortable for Donghyuck. “Can we change, please?”

“One more minute.” Mark propped his chin on Donghyuck’s shoulder and Donghyuck nodded with little to no contemplation. His arms circled Mark’s torso and he hugged him back, the two of them silent whilst they stood in the middle of the water fountain.

When the minute passed and they let go of each other, they walked back to Jaehyun’s car to change into dry clothes. Once Mark and Donghyuck were changed, they sat on one of the benches, milkshakes from a vendor in their hands as they watched the people coming and going.

“This is nice.” Donghyuck sighed as he let his head rest on Mark’s shoulder. He felt like he was on cloud nine; milkshakes and water fountains and his fingers laced between Mark’s.

Mark hummed in answer and took a sip from his milkshake. “It is.”

“Thank you. I really enjoyed today.”

“It’s not over yet.”

Donghyuck propped his chin on Mark’s shoulder instead and looked at his _boyfriend_ (he was going to have to get used to that soon) questioningly. “It’s not?”

Mark turned his head and smiled. He leaned forward and rubbed their noses together for a moment. “Your sister said she wanted cupcakes.”

Donghyuck blinked, then laughed. “Cupcakes?”

Yeonhyuck and Mark were left alone for five minutes— ten at most, and yet the younger girl had already managed to demand for cupcakes. And of course, sweet, adorable Mark had to give her a charming smile and comply with her wishes. Donghyuck wondered if Yeonhyuck pouted at him— Donghyuck knew they both inherited their mother’s pout, their father had shared this sentiment more times than either sibling could count— and if it had the same effect on Mark as to when Donghyuck was the one pouting.

“Mhmm.” Mark nodded. “I have to make a good impression on her, too, don’t I?”

Mark didn’t mean it as much as he should have. He knows that he already had Yeonhyuck’s favour, maybe even Donghyuck’s parents’, if that one dinner was anything to go by. But it didn’t hurt to get the middle schooler cupcakes.

“Maybe, but then again, she isn’t that hard to please.”

“Not like someone I know.” Mark teased before kissing Donghyuck quickly.

“I’m easy to please.” Donghyuck half-heartedly argued against Mark’s lips.

Mark kissed Donghyuck’s nose. “Easy to spoil, you mean.”

“I’m your baby.” Donghyuck sing-songed with a pout, baby doll eyes out in the open.

“Aren’t I lucky?” Mark whispered to the younger, who blushed at the sincere disbelief in Mark’s words. Donghyuck seriously believed that he was the one that was lucky; lucky enough to have crazy ideas, and crazy enough to actually go through with them. Going ghost-hunting was definitely one of Donghyuck’s craziest ideas.

“So, cupcakes?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i don't know if anyone noticed this, but the water park bit is from one of the detective conan movies hhhh i don't remember which one but if any of you get the reference then you are now my new best friend uwu hhhhhhh
> 
> also, this is _so_ close to the end! thank you so so much for reading and the support, don't hesitate to leave comments, i love reading them!!


	15. Chapter 15

Jaemin’s type of ‘in love’ was suffocating for the third parties. It was sulking and sighing when he’s apart from Jeno for more than twenty-four hours; and pouting when he thinks about where Jeno might be when he knows where his boyfriend is, and what he’s doing, and who he’s with, because they tell each other these things; it’s wanting to talk about everything Jeno to anyone who would listen because he seriously can’t believe how lucky he is to have Jeno in his life; and being reminded of Jeno by everything, the more mediocre and mundane then the better.

Donghyuck still refuses. He still absolutely, completely, without question, outright _refuses_ to be like Jaemin. But maybe he can make an exception.

Because here he is, pouting at Mark and peeking at him from behind his lashes, box of cupcakes in his lap and back turned to his house, where they were right in front of, because he refuses to go home without Mark.

“But I miss you already.” Donghyuck tried whatever cheesy line that popped into his head in an attempt to convince Mark not to return to Jaehyun’s for the night.

Mark chuckled and reached over to Donghyuck, pinching his cheek gently. “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay? Bright and early for breakfast, so be sure to sleep early so you don’t sleep in.”

“But...” Donghyuck pouted even more, knowing he was only giving Mark a harder time to say no. Donghyuck just _really_ wanted to cuddle tonight.

“Babe,” Mark was using the name against him now, because Donghyuck’s pout gradually disappears until his lower lip is caught between his teeth. “I have to return Jaehyun’s car to him, but I’ll catch the first bus tomorrow morning to pick you up for breakfast. No, I’ll _run_ here, even.”

Mark definitely had cheesy lines in the bag. Donghyuck doesn’t stand a chance.

Donghyuck pouts again and Mark understands. He chuckles and gives a chaste kiss to Donghyuck before bidding him farewell. He shakes his head at Donghyuck’s triumphant smile.

“Drive safe, okay?” Donghyuck said before he closed the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“I’ll call you when I get to Jaehyun’s, okay?”

Donghyuck smiled. “Okay.”

Donghyuck waits until Jaehyun’s car was out of sight before he skips to the porch, giggling as he opened the door. He blinks at his sister, who’s seated on the sofa and watching one of her trashy shows that she felt she invested too much time on to drop now that the plot was garbage.

Yeonhyuck glances at him but she doesn’t comment on the giant grin on his face because her eyes focus on the unmistakable box of cupcakes in Donghyuck’s arms. She perks up and holds her hands out for the box. “Cupcakes!”

“Stop taking advantage of my boyfriend.” Donghyuck says with as much bite as he can manage as he gives the cupcakes to his sister. “He already has a handful, and that’s me.”

“So you finally admit he’s your boyfriend.” Yeonghyuck answers dismissively as she sets the box on her lap, flicking it open and smiling contently to find an assortment of eight cupcakes.

Donghyuck feels his cheeks aching from all his smiling and he bounds up the steps. “Enjoy your cupcakes.”

He enters his room, closes the door and flops onto his bed, hugging his pillow to his chest and kicking his feet in the air. Donghyuck stifles a squeal because he didn’t want another round of Yeonhyuck’s comments for tonight. He sighs with a pout as he rolls around in his bed.

He misses Mark.

* * *

Mark gets to Donghyuck’s home earlier than Donghyuck thought he would. Donghyuck had barely gotten out of bed, but that didn’t speak volumes since Donghyuck was up later than usual with his mind and heart reeling with the thought of Mark, and Yeonhyuck was the one that opened the door for Mark when she was on her way out to meet friends for breakfast.

“Your parents at work?” Mark whispered against Donghyuck’s shoulder. Donghyuck pulled him in bed the moment he walked inside his room, insisting that breakfast can wait and that cuddles couldn’t. Mark was more than happy to oblige.

Donghyuck nodded, eyes closed with the vestiges of sleep. “Yeonhyuck won’t be back until after lunch, probably.”

Donghyuck’s eyes pop open as an idea comes to him. He smiles at Mark, who was looking at him expectantly. “Can we ditch going outside and just have breakfast here?”

“Sure.” Mark agreed immediately and pulled Donghyuck closer. “It means we can stay like this a little longer.”

“You read my mind.” Donghyuck simpered before pulling Mark into a quick kiss.

They end up having breakfast at Donghyuck’s house instead. Mark made toast whilst Donghyuck fried some eggs, the coffee maker brewing coffee as they worked around the kitchen like they've been making breakfast together since they learned how to use the toaster.

“Looks good, babe.” Mark said as he kissed Donghyuck’s cheek. The toast was done and Donghyuck was finishing with the eggs.

Donghyuck chuckled and turned off the stove. “It’s eggs, Mark. I don’t think I can mess that up.”

“You never know.” Mark said and kissed Donghyuck’s other cheek before walking to the kitchen island and taking a seat.

Donghyuck sucks in a breath, cursing himself for blushing from cheek kisses as he slides takes the plate of eggs with him to the kitchen table, where he sits next to Mark after giving the older a kiss on the cheek in return.

“Was Jaehyun awake when you left?” he asked as they ate. For all he knew, Mark really did run from Jaehyun’s place to here just to be bright and early. If he did, Donghyuck doubted that Mark bothered to give Jaehyun a heads up for that.

“He was,” Mark said matter-of-factly. “and he was going on about how I’m getting up bright and early just to see you.”

“We really need to find a way to get him to ask Taeyong out.” Donghyuck said sagely between bites of toast. Mark chuckled and pushed his mug of coffee towards him so that Donghyuck took sips to down the bread.

After breakfast, they stay in the living room. There’s a mid-morning talk show playing on the television but Donghyuck is more occupied with tracing shapes on Mark’s chest than paying attention to the show. Mark had his back on the sofa, one hand behind his head and the other on Donghyuck’s back. Donghyuck was on his side on the little space left between Mark and the back of the sofa, as close to Mark as he can be.

“Hey, Donghyuck?’ Mark’s chest vibrated from under Donghyuck’s fingers, which halted the shapes he was tracing on his chest.

“Yeah?”

“What do you think I should tell my parents for when I talk to them?” Mark asked. The hand behind his head moved to his chest and he caught Donghyuck’s hand in his palm, their laced fingers resting on Mark’s stomache.

Donghyuck lowers his cheek to Mark’s shoulder, smiling dazedly at their hands. “I don’t know. What do you think you should tell them?”

“That I really don’t want to leave.” Donghyuck watches the way Mark lifts their hands and feels when Mark places three kisses on their fingers. “And in the middle of being a petty brat, I found another reason I want to stay here.”

“What reason might that be?” Donghyuck mused and tilted his head toward Mark, who was smiling at him affectionately. Their hands find their place back on Mark’s stomache.

Mark bumps their noses together as he chuckles. “You, more than anything else.”

“Such a charmer.” Donghyuck mooned before he gave Mark a long kiss. He went back to his cheek on Mark’s shoulder and he felt the arm around him tighten slightly. “When are you going to talk to them?”

“Are you trying to kick me out of your room now?” Mark teased.

“No,” Donghyuck grinned. “I’m asking so that I can wish the day never comes.”

“Oh, really now?”

“Mhmm.” Donghyuck nodded curtly. “Want you all to myself.”

Mark laughed and kissed Donghyuck’s hair. “Next weekend might be a good time. Are you up for keeping me hostage for another week?”

“Is that even a question?” Donghyuck laughed and snuggled closer to his _boyfriend_ (he’s still getting used to it.)

There’s a knock on the door, then a rap, and then it was close to banging. Donghyuck groaned as he rolled off of Mark, almost falling on the floor if it wasn’t for Mark’s arm still securely around him. He pouted as he glared at the front door and Mark was tempted to pull Donghyuck back to him and kiss the pout off his face but before Mark could reach for Donghyuck, the younger was trudging to the front door as he grumbled.

“What do you brats want?” Donghyuck groused as he opened the door. There stood his friends, complete attendance, like he expected. The sounds of their knocking was enough indication for Donghyuck to know that the reason the doorbell wasn't touched was because Renjun knew if Chenle got near it, then he'd fry whataver wires the doorbeel needed to work. The knock was from Jisung, the rap from Jeno, then the banging from Jaemin.

“We wanted to ask you about your date with Mark!” Chenle beamed as he whizzed past Donghyuck and inside the house, Renjun and Jaemin in tow. Jeno and Jisung stayed outside and actually waited for Donghyuck to invite them inside, but if Donghyuck doesn’t do so in the next two minutes, they’ll find their way in themselves.

This was practically routine by now.

Renjun quirked a brow when he saw Mark on the sofa, now sitting up and smiling innocently at them. “But it seems like it’s not over yet.”

“Mark’s here?” Jeno asked as he and Jisung entered the house. He waved at the boy. “Hey, Mark. You here for lunch, too?”

“Why do I feel like he’s been here since breakfast?” Jisung commented, the paper bag he was carrying now in Donghyuck's arms.

Donghyuck pokes the younger at his side. “He was, got a problem with that?”

“Nope!” Jaemin laughed and sat next to Mark. “Because I want to believe that Mark is more loose-lipped that Donghyuck is.”

“What?” Donghyuck intoned.

Chenle joined Jaemin on Mark’s other side. “So, how was your date yesterday?”

“Okay!” Donghyuck quickly clasped his hands together, grabbing all of their attention. He widened his eyes at Chenle and Jaemin. “You two are helping me with lunch.”

“But—“ Chenle started to argue but was cut off by Donghyuck, who was already making his way to the kitchen.

“Kitchen.”

“But—“ Jaemin tried.

“ _Now_.”

Jaemin and Chenle tensed as they exchanged blank gazes. They stand up and follow after Donghyuck to the kitchen, almost quicker than how they plopped themselves on either side of Mark, ready to grill him for information.

“Word of advice,” Renjun started when Chenle and Jaemin were a good distance away from Mark like how Donghyuck wanted. Mark turned to Renjun in question. “when Donghyuck uses _that_ tone, it means do as he says or lose an eyebrow.”

Mark nodded with a gulp. “Noted.”

Jeno groaned as he sat next to Mark, shuddering at a memory despite the smile on his mouth. “That’s how he got me to ask Jaemin out.”

Mark’s brow twitched in amusement. “Donghyuck did?”

“Yeah, said he was tired of watching Jaemin and I dance around each other or something like that.”

Mark stifled a laugh. Donghyuck was one to take his own advice, then, since he straight up asked Mark if their feelings were mutual. “What else did Donghyuck do?”

Renjun hummed in thought, then pointed to Jisung, who was on the floor next to the coffee table and flipping through channels distractedly. “He spent half a year getting Jisung to take his dancing more seriously. Then he got me to open up more. Donghyuck’s like that, I guess, finds people, sees something to fix up and does it.”

"Sometimes he gets involved with problems that have nothing to do with him." Jisung mumbled. "It gets him into trouble sometimes, but when he's lost in another conquest or whatever, there's no stopping him. Donghyuck is stubborn."

"It's not bad," Jeno interjected. "it's not like he _actively_ looks for something to meddle in, he doesn't really see them as flaws or problems at all. I guess Donghyuck is just a fixer-upper like that?"

Donghyuck, who was approachable and who most people got along with. He was snarky and sarcastic but it was most often than not in good nature. He'd always step up as soon as he can, which way why people saw him as someone friendly and neighborly. It made sense, to Mark, that Donghyuck was the type of person to stick his nose where it didn't belong if he felt like he was going to come across something he could be of aid in.

“Sometime we joke that we're Donghyuck's projects.” Jisung scoffed as he settled on a music show. He turned to Mark and smiled at the older boy. “Donghyuck’s just like that, I’m sure you know.”

And Mark did know, because Donghyuck went out of his way— multiple times— to reach out to Mark. It confused Mark at first, not that it was unwelcomed, but Donghyuck didn’t have a reason to make an effort and help Mark out even if it was out of the sheer goodness of his heart.

“Lunch is ready, losers.” Donghyuck said as he walked to the sofa and wrapped his arms around Mark’s shoulders from behind, kissing Mark’s cheek quickly. “Missed you.”

Mark smiled, almost on reflex, and his hands circled around Donghyuck’s forearms to keep him there. “That was quick.”

Looking at Donghyuck now, Mark couldn’t believe that Donghyuck reached out to him with more than the sheer goodness of his heart. Ulterior motive or not, Donghyuck was Donghyuck, and Mark liked Donghyuck more than Mark could explain. That doesn’t mean that Donghyuck thinking of Mark as a project sat well with him, though.

Donghyuck chuckled, chin on Mark’s shoulder. “Jaemin and Chenle are helpful in the kitchen, believe it or not. And they brought take-out, if you didn't notice.”

Mark, in fact, did not notice.

“Okay, time to eat before I lose my appetite.” Jisung said with slight disdain as he stood up.

Jeno and Renjun followed after Jisung. Donghyuck’s arms around Mark tightened and Mark smirked when Donghyuck pouted at him.

“Such a baby.” Mark chuckled and pecked Donghyuck’s lips. “Let’s go before one of your friends come for us.”

“Your baby?” Donghyuck asked with a tilt of his head.

Mark nodded and bit Donghyuck’s nose lightly as he lowered the arms around his shoulders so that he could stand. “My baby.”

“Mark! Donghyuck!” Jaemin yelled from the kitchen, where lunch was set up on the island instead of the dining table.

“Coming!” Donghyuck yelled back.

Donghyuck’s friends leave after a couple of hours and Yeonhyuck comes home a little later. Donghyuck skips dinner, having munched for hours on end with Mark and the others and Mark was full himself.

Donghyuck was a little worried, though, because Mark was being a little weird ever since lunch. Donghyuck probably wouldn’t notice it if he didn’t pay so much attention to Mark, but he did, and he noticed how Mark held his gaze a second too short, or missed _one_ chance to pinch his nose.

Mark is half-lying on the bed and half-leaning on the headboard with Donghyuck clinging to his torso with his eyes closed as he listened to Mark’s heartbeat. Donghyuck wasn’t asleep, not like what Mark thought, because Donghyuck felt like there was something that was bothering Mark, and Donghyuck won’t be able to sleep easy until he knew what it was.

“Mark, is something wrong?” Donghyuck asked as he inched higher on Mark’s chest, eyes now opened.

It’s quiet now, Mark’s eyes still on the page as he thinks of a response. Donghyuck bites his lip as he watches Mark close the book and set it on the bedside table. He straightens his position, pulling Donghyuck to sit as well.

Mark looks at Donghyuck in that calculating way Donghyuck noticed he did when he didn’t understand something but didn’t want to ask for help to understand, so he’ll rack his brain to put the pieces together himself. Donghyuck usually saw this when they were doing homework or when he’d steal glances during their shared classes, but now it was directed at him; like Donghyuck was an equation Mark couldn’t quite understand but he was too stubborn to either ask for help or give up on it altogether.

“Hyuck, am I another project?” Mark finally asked.

There was silence next; the one that came after a humming that one only noticed when it stopped. Mark didn’t need to speak anymore because by the look on Donghyuck’s face, Mark knew he understood what he meant.

And Donghyuck could only think back to the countless of times Jeno and Jaemin and Renjun and Chenle and Jisung reffered to themselves or other people as Donghyuck’s projects. But the way Mark asked made it sound nothing like the usual teasing Donghyuck was used to when people he knew were labeled as a project of his.

Donghyuck thinks his lip was going to tear if he chewed on it any longer, so with a heavy sigh, he answers. “You were.”

“Oh.”

He couldn’t deny that he did think of Mark as another person to help out at first, but that thought didn’t stay long. Donghyuck couldn’t think of anything else but Mark and being with Mark and being happy with Mark for the longest time now; thinking of Mark as another bullet in his list of achievements was ludicrous to Donghyuck now. He didn’t like that Mark was thinking that that was the case.

Donghyuck straddles Mark, thighs on either side of him and hands on his cheeks to force Mark to look at him. He didn’t like the way Mark looked right now, like he was overthinking something that wasn’t worth anything of note. “You _were_.” he repeated with more emphasis. “Past tense. Now, you’re not. Mark, you’re my boyfriend, not my project.”

“Oh.” Mark repeated, this time with more emotion, unlike the dejected tone from earlier.

“Don’t give me that look again.” Donghyuck whispered as he shook his head. He squeezed Mark’s cheeks slightly, liking how they felt against his palms.

Mark’s brows furrowed, nonplussed. “What look?”

Donghyuck looked at Mark again, engraving the expression in his mind so that he could resent it as much as possible without having to see it for a second time. It broke his heart seeing even a modicum of doubt in Mark’s eyes, especially when Mark’s eyes were on Donghyuck.

His hold on Mark’s cheeks loosened but his hands didn’t drop. “That look you gave me just now. It breaks my heart, you wondering if there’s some ulterior motive to all of this.”

He shakes his head again for emphasis. “There’s not. I just really really really like you and if I can help you sort things out with your parents, then okay. I’m not going to make it my life’s mission for you to work things out with them, but I _am_ going to be with you through it, as much as you’ll allow me to.”

“So _don’t_ give me that look again, you got it, ghost boy?” Donghyuck finished with a stern tone, earning an amused rumble from Mark that Donghyuck felt with the ulnas of his elbows on Mark’s chest.

“Are you sure?” Mark asked softly.

“Mark, is it not blatantly obvious that I’m completely head-over-heels for you?” Donghyuck scoffed and dipped closer, squishing Mark’s cheeks for a long second.

“It is. I just wanted to hear you say it.” Mark finally smiled and Donghyuck realized that Mark was stifling the grin from since the middle of Donghyuck’s speech.

“Just that last one or everything else before that?” he asked the older.

“The last one, more than everything.” Mark mused. Donghyuck felt Mark’s hands on the back of his thighs, pulling Donghyuck an inch closer than they already were. Mark’s hands were warm and Donghyuck could feel it past his pyjama pants.

Donghyuck felt his eyes flutter until they were half-closed. “Good, because that’s easier to repeat than that whole speech I just did.”

“Hm?” Mark hummed with a quirked brow.

“I am completely head-over-heels for you, Mark.” Donghyuck repeated under his breath before finally kissing Mark. The hands on the back of his thighs pulled him even closer and Donghyuck deepened the kiss, tilting his head to slot their lips together easier.

He could taste the toothpaste on Mark’s lip. It was Donghyuck’s toothpaste but it tasted so much more appetizing when Donghyuck licked it off the corner of Mark’s mouth. Donghyuck’s hands fall from Mark’s cheeks to Mark’s shoulders before he felt Mark’s tongue swipe across his lower lip and Donghyuck moans softly, opening his mouth to give Mark entrance.

His fingers curl around the fabric of the shoulders part of Mark’s shirt when he feels Mark’s tongue behind his teeth. The knot in his stomache tightens and he feels his already limp knees go even weaker as he melts into Mark more.

He squeaks when he’s lifted off Mark, hanging on to Mark for another reason as the older shifts so that Donghyuck was lying on the bed and Mark was half-hovering on top of him.

“You know I’m completely head-over-heels for you, too, right?” Mark asked between catching their breaths. On the arm he wasn’t propped up on, Mark cupped Donghyuck’s cheek and kissed him again, softer this time. It was gentle but still opened-mouthed and knocked the air out of the both of them when they haven’t even caught their breaths.

Donghyuck’s heart was racing from how sweet this kiss was. His hands tangled themselves in Mark’s hair and he feels Mark’s under his shirt, the touch sending shivers along Donghyuck’s body. Mark abuses Donghyuck’s bottom lip, biting and sucking on it until it looked fuller than it actually was.

Donghyuck felt like he was close to hyperventilating when Mark let out a sound from the back of his throat. Mark’s hands press harder on Donghyuck’s skin as the he pulls away, both of them panting as the kiss dies down to short ones at a time. Every butterfly kiss weakened Donghyuck’s core by a modicum and with the way Mark was as out of breath as he was, Donghyuck knew he was the same.

Mark’s head was spinning as he placed kisses along Donghyuck’s jaw, trailing up to the younger’s ear so that he could whisper in his ear. “Babe, can I ask you something?”

That name was going to be the death of Donghyuck. It was cheesy and romantic, exactly like Mark, and Donghyuck reveled in the way Mark called only him by that name.

“If you call me ‘babe’ then I’ll obviously answer however you want me to.” Donghyuck breathed out, eyes closed and heart still racing from Mark’s kisses. The hands on his skin start to tickle and he represses a giggle.

“Go to prom with me, Hyuckie?” Mark asked, looking innocent despite his swollen lips. He leaned down and kissed Donghyuck’s nose. “Babe?”

Donghyuck giggled and pulled Mark closer to him. “Prom’s like, a month away.”

Of course, Mark was going to spew out a ridiculously corny question at a time like this. Donghyuck loved it, and thanked all of the books Mark has read that has given him as much material to make Donghyuck swoon as he did.

“So, you’re going to prom with me?”

“Of course, ghost boy.” Donghyuck laughed and kissed Mark full on the lips, arms around the older’s neck. “Who else will I go with but my boyfriend?”

Mark laughed and removed his hands from under Donghyuck’s shirt and wrapped his arms around Donghyuck’s torso. The younger snuggled into Mark’s chest, closing his eyes with a dreamy sigh. “Sleepy?”

“We have school tomorrow.” Mark said as he kissed the crown of Donghyuck’s head. He realized that the lights were on and that he would have to get up to close the lights, because God forbid he let Donghyuck lift a finger. “Babe, I have to close the lights.”

“See, that name isn’t good for my heart.” Donghyuck commented as he held on to Mark’s arm tighter. “And for that request, because I don’t want to let you go.”

“Two seconds, Hyuck.” Mark jested as he wiggled out of Donghyuck’s hold, ignoring the way his boyfriend whined at the loss of contact. He quickly closes the lights and jumps back into bed with Donghyuck, futon on the floor long forgotten.

“Good night, Markie.” Donghyuck hummed as Mark hugged Donghyuck again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I just want to say thank you for everyone reading!! The support means so so much to me *^^* don't be afraid to drop kudos or comments, and visit my [curious cat](https://curiouscat.qa/water_lili_es) or [twitter](https://twitter.com/markeu_tuan93) if you have time hhhhh :>>
> 
> I hope each and every one of you keeps safe and healthy, and most importantly happy!!! There's only a couple of chapters left until the story comes to an end, so a thousand 'thank you's for sticking this long!!! *^^*


	16. Chapter 16

Another day at lunch brought Jaehyun eyeing Taeyong from across the room, the same lovesick smile that was only obvious if one knew where to look was there. Lucas, Johnny, and Mark have learned to ignore that look unless they could utilize it to tease Jaehyun, which wasn't a lot of the time since Jaehyun was exceptional at keeping a calm reserve; that is, until it's Taeyong undoing it with merely a tilt of his head.

None of them could understand how Jaehyun could act so composed when he was being teased about Taeyong, when the three of them would turn into bumbling idiots whenever their boyfriends were being used against them. It was something about Jaehyun that they both wanted to also be but at the same time not; they liked being the bumbling idiots that they are.

Donghyuck, however, was not used to a lovesick Jaehyun, and was more than willing to take the reigns. Donghyuck was next to Mark after ignoring his friends' protests that he was choosing some random boy over them and seating himself next to his boyfriend whilst sticking his tongue out at them.

Donghyuck laughed as he took in the way the corners of Jaehyun's eyes crinkled in endearment. It was much like the looks he received from Mark. "You know, prom is coming up soon, why don't you invite him?"

Jaehyun nearly paled at the idea. Asking Taeyong to prom was something he considered but ultimately gave up on. There was no way Taeyong was going to agree, that is if he didn't already have a date to prom.

Lucas perked up at the suggestion. He pointed at finger at Jaehyun. "And don't say he already has a date. He's Student Council President, he's probably been crazy busy with preparations to even look for a date."

It was true. For a month now, Taeyong has been glued to his phone with preparations for prom along with the other members of the Student Council. The only times any of them seem to not be in the middle of a phone call are during classes, when they’re meeting one another, or their planning requires hand-on attention.

"Butㅡ"

"No." Johnny joined in. "You're asking him."

"Iㅡ"

"Taeyong!" Mark called the older boy over from where he was seated with his own small group of friends. Taeyong smiled when he saw Mark waving him over to their table and quickly stood to his feet to make his way to them.

Mark chuckled as he looked away from the approaching Taeyong and pinched Donghyuck's nose, a silent gesture of humouring Donghyuck's ideas.

"Hey, guys, what's up?" Taeyong asked when he reached the table, a hand on Jaehyun's shoulder, seemingly automatic. Donghyuck hid his face in Mark's shoulder to snort at the action, Mark's arm instantly circling around Donghyuck in response.

"Actually, Jaehyun has something to ask you." Lucas grinned, blatantly unaware of the nasty looks he was receiving from Jaehyun at the moment.

"I do?" Jaehyun spluttered. He looked around the table. He met Taeyong's expecting gaze and instantly perked up, although somehow looking a little forced. "I do!"

"What is it?" Taeyong chuckled. He found Jaehyun to be a different kind of endearing when he was nervous. As a sort of comfort to the younger, Taeyong squeezed his shoulder when he realized that his hand was still on Jaehyun.

“I was wondering if, uhh...” Jaehyun gulps, suddenly at a loss for words. He looks to his friends for help but none of them offer him any chance at redemption. He looks back up at Taeyong with a strained smile. “If we could grab a ride with you to prom?”

Taeyong tilts his head at the question before he smiles. “Yeah, sure. I’m going with Doyoung and the others, we’re meeting at his at about 5, so be sure to get there by then. Is that all?”

“Yeah.” Jaehyun nodded. “Sorry for the bother, though.”

Taeyong waved a hand in dismissal. “No, it’s no worries. The more the merrier. But do tell me how many of you are coming so that we can adjust the transportation.”

“Will do.” Jaehyun said and Taeyong left to go back to his friends.

Lucas sighed as he eyed Jaehyun. “You’re an idiot.”

Jaehyun groaned, hiding his face in his hands. “Why did you make me do that? Why did you think I can just straight up ask him?”

“Because we had faith in you.” Mark chuckled with a shake of his head. It was amusing to see his best friend like this but a part of him hoped that by some miracle Jaehyun wouldn’t crash and burn like he did just now.

“Also because you _have_ to ask him out sooner or later.” Lucas insisted. “You’ve been crushing on him since forever.”

“It hasn’t been _that_ long.” Jaehyun argued, but in reality, he has no idea how long he’s been harbouring his crush on Taeyong for. It couldn’t have been for _that_ long, no matter what Lucas thought.

Donghyuck laughed, spoon caught between his teeth. “Just ask him next time, then. There’s still three weeks to prom.”

“Hey, at least now we have rides to prom.” Johnny shrugged.

“Well, you three have fun with that, cause Hyuckie here is going with his friends and so will I.” Mark said as he kissed Donghyuck’s temple, the younger boy preoccupied with drinking from the straw of his orange juice to supply any of them a reaction.

* * *

The weekend rolled around quickly and Mark and Donghyuck were parked outside of Mark’s house. It was half an hour away from Donghyuck’s house and the whole time Donghyuck was driving, he was trying to convince Mark that he was going to do well talking to his parents and that everything will be okay.

“Are you sure you don’t want me with you?” Donghyuck pouted from the driver’s seat as he widened his eyes cutely at Mark.

The older chuckled and cupped Donghyuck’s cheeks, eyes filled with affection as he admired for adorable Donghyuck looked. He pecked Donghyuck twice, earning a satisfied smile from his boyfriend. “I’m sure, Hyuckie. And wouldn’t it be a little weird to be gone for five months and then come back with a boy they don’t know?”

Donghyuck pouted again. “But...”

“I’ll be fine, babe.” Mark chuckled and squeezed Donghyuck’s cheeks softly. Donghyuck’s heart skipped a beat at the name. “See you in two hours, okay?”

Donghyuck nodded as Mark opened the car door and stepped out. “Text me!”

“I’ll see you.” Mark chuckled and closed the door.

He waited until Donghyuck disappeared around the corner before turning around and making his way to his porch. Mark stood in front of the closed door and contemplated turning around and texting Donghyuck to come back, but he buried the urge off because this was something he had to do sooner or later. He took a deep breath and sighed as he rang the doorbell, finding it ridiculous that he was ringing the doorbell of his own house in the first place but that didn’t matter at the moment.

“Mark!” his eldest brother said in greeting when the door opened. “Where have you been, you little rugrat?”

“Hey.” he smiled coyly. “Are mom and dad home?”

* * *

Two hours later with the sun already set for an early evening, Donghyuck pulls up in front of Mark’s house and sees his boyfriend standing where he left him, and Donghyuck slides down the passenger side’s window as he slows to a stop in front of him.

“Please tell me you haven’t been standing there since I left.” he chuckled at Mark.

Mark laughed and slid his hands out from his pockets to cross them over the windowsill. “I did. And it went pretty well.”

“How well?” Donghyuck asked with a small smile. He didn’t want to think about Mark moving away right now, what mattered was that he talked things out with his parents and that if things went well, then it means that they have come to a conclusion about what to do about moving to Canada.

“Really well.” Mark mused and his smile broadened. “What do you say about having our dinner date here instead?”

Donghyuck paused. He blinked. “I— here? With... with your parents and brothers?”

Mark nodded. “Yeah. How about it?”

“I mean...” Donghyuck bit his lip nervously. Contrary to trying to convince Mark that he wanted to be with him when he talked with his parents, Donghyuck doesn’t think he can handle meeting Mark’s family right now.

He wasn’t ready to make a fool out of himself in front of his boyfriend’s parents. What if Mark’s parents meet him and decide to leave for Canada tomorrow because they couldn’t stand the thought of Mark spending any more time with Donghyuck?

He was being dramatic, he knows, but Donghyuck is a very dramatic person.

Mark senses Donghyuck’s worry and his smile turns comforting. “They’ll love you, don’t worry.”

“Are you sure?” Donghyuck asked.

Mark nodded and pushed himself off the windowsill. “I’m sure, Hyuckie. It’ll be impossible for them not to.”

Donghyuck smiled shyly. He couldn’t bring himself to be surprised by how many hearts are in his eyes whenever he looks at Mark. “Okay, but if they don’t like me then I’m breaking up with you.”

Mark rounds the car as Donghyuck pulls the window back up. Mark opens the door and leans over Donghyuck to take the key out of the ignition as Donghyuck clicks the seatbelt off of him. Mark tugs Donghyuck out of the car and up on his feet to hug him tightly.

“Don’t break up with me, baby.” Mark whispered cheekily against Donghyuck’s shoulder as Donghyuck closed the car door. Donghyuck melted into Mark’s arms when the name reached his ears. “They’ll adore you, maybe as much as I do.”

Maybe not as much as Mark did. The way Mark adored Donghyuck was almost monumental. Even Mark himself was unsure as to what extent his adoration for the younger boy stretched out. He highly doubted that any other person can keep up with him.

“That’s kind of hard to believe.” Donghyuck chuckled as he hugged Mark back. He squeezed the older boy tightly, loving how warm he was. He spent the afternoon at Chenle’s house with Jaemin. The three of them played video games and laughed and had a good time, but Donghyuck loved Mark’s company the most.

“Is it?” Mark chuckled lowly whilst he lifted his head to look at Donghyuck. Their noses touched and Donghyuck hummed when Mark rubbed the tips of their noses together affectionately.

“Dinner with your family sounds nice, though.” Donghyuck said. “But I really will break up with you if they don’t like me.”

“They’ll love you, I promise.” Mark repeated before kissing Donghyuck full on the lips. Donghyuck swooned as he kissed back, his hands moving from Mark’s back to his chest, gently pulling the older closer to him.

Mark feels something in his hand and suddenly remembers that he was holding something. He chuckles and deepens the kiss, carefully pushing Donghyuck against the car, hands on either side of Donghyuck to hold him securely.

Mark’s tongue slips past Donghyuck’s lips and Donghyuck groans quietly. Mark sighs against the kiss as one of his hands move to the hem of Donghyuck’s jeans. Donghyuck gasps and feels Mark lick his lower lip in comfort before Mark’s hand moves even lower down his jeans.

Donghyuck’s heart is beating in his ears when he feels Mark’s hand inside his back pocket for a moment before it’s gone again and back on his waist, pulling him closer before pulling away and pressing their foreheads together.

“Did you just put my keys in my back pocket?” Donghyuck asked, still clearly winded from the kiss.

Mark smiled dazedly at Donghyuck’s kiss-swollen lips as he nodded, his hands moving from Donghyuck’s sides to around Donghyuck. “Yeah. Don’t want you losing your keys, now, do you?”

Donghyuck giggled, knocking his forehead together with Mark’s in the process. He reached above Mark’s head and slipped off the black beanie on his head and ruffled Mark’s hair. “Come on, your family is waiting.”

“Oh, right.” Mark said and stepped away from Donghyuck but still kept one hand on his boyfriend’s back. He genuinely sounded like he forgot and Donghyuck laughed whilst Mark led him around the car and to the porch, putting on Mark’s beanie on himself.

* * *

Once the bedroom door closes, Mark takes Donghyuck in his arms and jumps into bed, the younger squealing between his laughs.

“Mark, what the hell?” Donghyuck laughed as he held on to Mark before he feels them hit the mattress. He should get used to barreling onto beds whenever he and Mark enter bedrooms.

Mark doesn’t answer as he’s taken it upon himself to place kisses all over Donghyuck’s face, the younger letting out tiny laughs with every press of lips on his skin.

“I told you that they’ll love you.” Mark said between kisses on Donghyuck’s forehead and nose.

Donghyuck hummed, closing his eyes so that Mark can kiss his eyelids as well. “You did tell me.”

Dinner went well and Donghyuck got along with Mark’s second older brother the most. Mark’s parents were quick to become fond of Donghyuck, especially after he blushed as he introduced himself then proceeded to hide behind Mark. Mark’s eldest brother was more shameless, throwing harmless comments Mark and Donghyuck’s way throughout the meal.

They may not have adored Donghyuck like Mark insisted they would, but they didn’t dislike him, either. Then again, Mark was insisting that his family would grow to adore Donghyuck like some god from the get-go, and it was silly, and Mark might as well be the only person capable of such.

After dinner, Mark’s parents insisted that Donghyuck stay the night, as a thank you for looking after Mark during Mark’s rebellious phase. After Donghyuck getting the okay from his own parents, Mark was quick to lead Donghyuck to his room, where they are now.

“Your parents said something.” Donghyuck said when the two of them have gotten quiet.

Mark’s arms loosen around Donghyuck but he doesn’t let go. “What did they say?”

“That you’re staying here.” Donghyuck looked at Mark questioningly. “But everyone else is still moving.”

It was something Mark’s father had said in passing, whilst they were questioning Donghyuck about how problematic Mark was during his time away from home— Donghyuck insisted that Mark wasn’t too much of a burden, if at all, but family will always tease— and the comment has stayed in the back of Donghyuck’s mind since then. Mark’s mother even added that she was glad someone was going to take care of Mark when the whole family moves, and that she wouldn’t worry too much about her youngest being on his own.

Mark nodded and lifted a hand to go through Donghyuck’s fringe. The pads of his fingers brush against Donghyuck’s forehead lightly, like butterfly wings. “Yeah. We talked it over and I told them that... I never wanted to leave in the first place, but now... there’s no way I’m leaving when you’re here.”

Donghyuck’s heart skips a beat and he looks at Mark in surprise. He feels breathless. “You told them that?”

Mark nodded again, eyes still focused on his fingers going through the strands of Donghyuck’s hair, messy from having worn a beanie during dinner. “I told them that you’re a reason to stay, more than everything else.”

“And then?”

“And then they told me that whilst I was gone, they talked with my aunt about it and she agreed to letting me live with her when they leave.” Mark mentally went through what he and his parents talked about earlier in the day with a small smile. “I’m going to miss them, sure, but that can’t compare to how much I’m going to miss you if I go with them.”

“Mark...” Donghyuck exhaled.

Mark’s eyes finally flickered down to meet Donghyuck’s and he leaned forward to quickly kiss Donghyuck. “I love you, you know that, right?”

Donghyuck thinks he stops breathing for a second too long. He feels winded, hearing those words from Mark and seeing how soft the brown in Mark’s eyes look as they stare at him sincerely.

He thought he was going to be the one to tell Mark first, but here Mark was now, taking Donghyuck’s breath away and telling him he loves him like it was the easiest thing to say.

It was, really, because it was true. Donghyuck can see it in Mark’s eyes, hear it in his voice, feel it in his kisses, that Mark really loved Donghyuck. And Donghyuck loves Mark, for everything. He loves Mark’s seemingly endless collection of books and beanies and even more infinite collection of cheesy lines that he’s always ready to throw Donghyuck’s way. He’s in love with how dark Mark’s hair is and how bright his smile is, and he’s helplessly in love with Mark and the way Mark makes him feel like he’s on top of the world.

Maybe it was crazy, but it was even crazier if Donghyuck didn’t fall as quick as he did.

Donghyuck nods. “Yeah. I love you, too.”

They’ve _known_ each other for a little more than four months, and been together in less than one, but it felt right to say it. Nothing felt wrong with telling these kinds of truths.

Mark’s eyes crinkled at the sides when he smiled. “I know, babe.”

“I’m so close to putting a quota on you.” Donghyuck jested with a light groan. “You can’t keep calling me that every chance you get.”

Mark gasped exaggeratedly and hugged Donghyuck tightly until Donghyuck’s cheek was against Mark’s chest. “But, Hyuckie, you’re my baby.”

“And you,” Donghyuck poked Mark’s chest with a small glare. “give me heart problems.”

Mark takes the hand pointed at him and straightens it on his chest, where his heart would be. He keeps his hand above Donghyuck’s, holding it in place. “You give me heart attacks, too.”

Donghyuck doesn’t answer, only inches closer to Mark and closes his eyes with a small sigh.

“Whatever, ghost boy. I’m sleepy.” he mumbled.

There’s a kiss on his head.

“Good night.”

* * *

Prom was fast approaching and Jaehyun had still not asked Taeyong to go. He tried, a handful of times, but he simply can’t get the words out. Seeing Taeyong’s expectant look made his tongue knot like the stem of a cherry and his mind whirl like there was a hurricane in his head.

“Just ask him.” Mark shrugged. “That’s what I did to Donghyuck.”

Mark and Donghyuck have gotten a little distant recently. They weren’t _distant_ -distant, but they weren’t stuck at the hip at the start of the school day and at the end of it anymore— other days, Jaehyun was convinced that they lived together, but that was absurd. It must mean that they’re slowly easing out of their honeymoon phase.

“I asked Ten over Chinese take-out.” Johnny said next. “He doesn’t even go to our school.”

Jaehyun rolled his eyes at his friends. “Yeah, but they’re your boyfriends. Taeyong and I aren’t dating. I’m not even sure if we’re close friends.”

“I’d say you’re pretty close.” Johnny shrugged.

Jaehyun saw Taeyong rounding up the corner and he was quick to wave Mark and Johnny goodbye and follow after the older.

“Good luck!” the two called over Jaehyun’s shoulder.

“Taeyong!” he called after the older boy, who was currently looking through something on his notebook and talking to someone on the phone.

“Taeyong.” Jaehyun panted as he caught his arm and stopped him from walking.

Taeyong turned and his confused expression turned into a smile when he saw Jaehyun. He tapped the back of his phone with the hand holding it, telling Jaehyun that he was talking to someone. “Wait, Taeil, let me get back to you on that.”

He smiled at Jaehyun properly, glancing down at his notes before back at the younger. “Hey, Jaehyun. Did you need anything?”

“I need to ask you something.” Jaehyun’s words were a little rushed as a result of him mustering up any and all courage he can call on.

Taeyong nodded, speaking into the phone. “No, Taeil, we’re not going with that. Anyway, Jaehyun, what do you need to ask?”

“Uhm...” Jaehyun started. Maybe Taeyong being a little distracted could be to his advantage. “Will you go to prom with me?”

Taeyong blinked at him, brows furrowed, as he nodded. “Yeah, we already agreed that we’re all going together, right? We’re meeting at Doyoung’s since it’s closest to school.”

“No, Taeyong, I mean,” Jaehyun tried again. “go to prom _with_ me.”

“Taeil, prom starts at 6, not at 8, if you’re late, I’m locking you out.” Taeyong said into the phone then turned back to Jaehyun. “Do you want me to pick you up from your place? I don’t think I have your address but if you give it to me than I don’t see why not.”

Jaehyun scoffed, tugging at his hair when Taeyong made another quick scan of his notes for what Jaehyun is assuming is a quiz next period. “This is going to be tricky.”

“Okay, okay, Taeyong?” Jaehyun called for Taeyong’s attention again. He slowly took Taeyong’s wrist in his hand and lowered it until the phone was above Taeyong’s opened notebook. Taeyong looked at him questioningly but let him do what he was doing.

“Will you,” Jaehyun started again, sounding as sincere as he was nervous. “be my _date_ to prom?”

Taeyong finally gets what Jaehyun was trying to say. He falters in his place, blinking at Jaehyun. Jaehyun thinks that Taeyong was thinking of how to reject him, but that quickly goes away once Taeyong starts rambling. “You mean, like, you and me? Prom? Together?”

“Yeah,” Jaehyun breathed out a chuckle. “and if you don’t completely hate me by the end of it, maybe consider being more than friends?"

“You mean like boyfriends?” Taeyong repeated, still in the middle of processing Jaehyun's words. “The two of us? And I can hold your hand and tell you how cute you are without being worried you’ll find it weird and I can text you all I want and tell you how great you are because you’re a really really great person and I’m the luckiest guy in the world—“

“Taeyong.” Jaehyun laughed as he held Taeyong on both shoulders to stop his rambling. It was adorable, in Jaehyun’s opinion, and he can feel his cheeks heat up and hear his heart beating fast in his chest at Taeyong’s words. This just proves that he was right to be absolutely smitten with this boy. “I’ll take that as a yes?”

Taeyong nodded, letting out a chuckle of his own. “Yeah! Yes.”

“Good,” Jaehyun sighed in relief. “I’ll leave you to your work?”

“Huh?” Taeyong blinked, then remembered his phone call. He put the phone back to his ear. “Taeil, yeah? You were saying?”

Jaehyun laughed and looked around. He looked back at a still blushing Taeyong who was talking to Taeil and skimming through his notes and he chuckled.

Taeyong was a busy person but with prom coming along and the year creeping to a close, he was multitasking to the best of his abilities. Jaehyun admired it, being a top student and Student Council President, but right now he wished that Taeyong could take it easy once in a while and take a well-deserved breather.

“I’ll walk you to your classroom.” Jaehyun whispered in Taeyong’s ear before placing a hand on his lower back to guide him along the considerably busy hall. “Don’t want you bumping into people.”

Taeyong looks away from Jaehyun shyly but continues with his multi-tasking without issue. He feels Jaehyun’s hand on his back and he tries his hardest not to melt into the touch as he walks, a smile lingering even in his words.

Never mind how Jaehyun knew where Taeyong’s next class was.


	17. Chapter 17

After Mark’s talk with his parents, he moved back in there. He wanted to spend as much time with his family as possible until they packed up and moved to Canada. Their friends hardly noticed the shift, but then again they knew of nothing. There have been comments from Jaehyun and Renjun about a honeymoon phase and them passing through it, but Mark and Donghyuck simply waved them off.

Donghyuck will admit that he has gotten used to ‘harbouring an illegal refugee’ and not being with Mark at nights were something he found he disliked. He missed having Mark sleep next to him or on the futon and he missed their late night talks in person instead of through a phone call. Not having to smuggle Mark in and out of his house was refreshing, though.

Jaehyun finally mustered up the courage to ask Taeyong to prom a week before the dance itself. He was beaming ever since that day, dimples deeper than usual and Mark was happy for his best friend, though a little saddened that what he mostly used to tease Jaehyun with was gone now that it looked like he and Taeyong were going to get together soon.

“Hello, my beautiful baby.” Mark hummed as a hand found its place on Donghyuck’s lower back and pulled him closer so that he could press their foreheads together.

Donghyuck’s eyes closed in reflex as he let out an airy chuckle. “You’re handsy already, ghost boy.”

Mark couldn’t help it. He and Donghyuck picked out their suits together two weeks ago, but seeing Donghyuck look so dressed up with glossy lips and shiny silver eyeshadow and white eyeliner to match made Mark want to keep Donghyuck as close as possible. Then again, Donghyuck could roll out of bed and Mark would think of him as a top model still.

“Seriously, have some pity on us.” Renjun deadpanned from the living room floor where he, Yeonhyuck, and Chenle were munching on the box of cupcakes Mark brought with him.

“Oh, hush, Renjun.” Jaemin said from his spot by the stairs, phone aimed at the couple. “I’m taking pics.”

“Alright, boys, time to go or you’ll be late.” Donghyuck’s mother said as she emerged from the kitchen with a camera. She’s been busy fixing up dinner for the night until now. She smiled at the group of boys. “Pictures out by the porch first, though.”

“The stretch car is out front so we can take pictures there, too.” Chenle said as they started to file out of the house.

After pictures and a mini-fit from Yeonhyuck about not being able to come with them, the seven boys piled inside the stretch car they rented as transportation to school. The ride was filled with light banter and easy conversation, which consisted but was not limited to Renjun and Chenle talking in a language they didn’t understand and Jaemin thinking the worse of what the duo were talking about.

“You think we can drive by a McDonald’s and get burgers?” Donghyuck asked, comfortably tucked under Mark’s arm and Donghyuck’s own hands playing with Mark’s free one.

“Taeyong is going to have our heads if we’re more than half an hour late.” Jeno reminded with a hearty laugh. “And we’re already running late as is.”

From next to Jeno, Jaemin sticks his tongue out at Donghyuck teasingly and then hides behind Jeno’s arm when Donghyuck raises a hand to pretend to surge forward to hit him. Mark quickly pulls Donghyuck back to his side before Donghyuck could actually cross the car and wrestle Jaemin.

Donghyuck groaned and prodded at Mark’s arm, tilting his head up to whisper at his boyfriend. “I want burgers.”

Mark chuckled and kissed Donghyuck’s nose. “How about after the dance, hmm?”

“Okay.”

When they get to school, Jaehyun and the others are already there and have hoarded a table big enough for all of them. Jaehyun and Taeyong were wandering around the gym, with Taeyong wandering around making sure that nothing was going wrong and Jaehyun making sure that Taeyong wasn’t over-worrying about anything.

The gym looked amazing. If Mark didn’t go to this school he’d double-think if he really was in a gym. The bleachers were pushed out to provide more room and the decorations looked like it took days to set-up— which they did. Taeil and Kun were excused for two days just to overlook the shifts that the decoration committee took with decorating the gym.

There were already people dancing in the middle of the gym, some electronic song playing. Chenle almost made a beeline for the dance floor if not for Jisung pulling him back and reminding him that they still had to look for the others and settle into their table before anything else.

The music was loud but it didn’t hurt the ears. There was a DJ set up on the makeshift stage of the gym as well as a mic stand in the middle of it, probably for when prom king and queen will be announced. It looked like they were one of the last ones to arrive, if the number of people inside was anything to go by.

“Guys, meet Jungwoo.” Lucas beamed as he introduced his date. Lucas stood from his seat and went behind his date’s chair, placing his hands on his shoulders and squeezing comfortably. Donghyuck and Jaemin almost cooed at how the boy’s smile widened when Lucas did that.

Next to Jungwoo was Johnny’s date, alone since Johnny went to get drinks for them, so Lucas took it upon himself to introduce him as well. “And that over there is Ten.”

“Hi.” Jungwoo smiled as he stood up to greet Mark with a hug, the only one of the newcomers that he was familiar with. He smiled at every one of them as he spoke. “It’s nice to meet all of you, Lucas and Johnny have been filling us in.”

“Oh, Ten, you’ll like this game that Chenle and Renjun play!” Lucas said as they all settled down around the table. The boy raised a curious brow at the statement, and Donghyuck _knows_ that they’ll get along with him easily.

“No, not him, too.” Johnny said with finality as he approached the table with two iced teas, placing a kiss on Ten’s head before he sat down next to him and offering him one of the drinks. He narrowed his eyes at Renjun and Chenle in warning, which the younger boys waved off.

“What are you guys doing here and not dancing?” Taeyong half-scolded as he and Jaehyun passed the table. Jaehyun’s arm was securely around Taeyong’s waist as a means to stir him around the room without jostling anyone near them. Taeyong had a tendency to not look where he was going, unsurprisingly.

“Music sucks.” Donghyuck intoned with a teasing air.

Jaehyun chuckles nervously when Taeyong stills. He shoots Donghyuck a glare, Mark by extension, as he talks behind his teeth. “He’s just teasing, Tae.”

Donghyuck might have forgotten about how stressed Taeyong has been about prom. He also might have forgotten that he was initially cautious around Taeyong since the older always seemed on edge and unapproachable. That may explain the cold shiver that ran down his spine.

“I am!” Donghyuck reassured, hopping to his feet and prodding at Mark’s arm to do the same. “We’ll dance right now.”

“I am so sorry for him.” Mark apologized to Taeyong as they passed. “He means well.”

“I do.” Donghyuck grinned, the practiced one for when he was being a brat and he’s aware of it. “And now we’re going to dance to the _amazing_ music that you picked out.”

Mark leads Donghyuck to the dance floor after that, already hearing one or two minutes of Jaehyun whining about Donghyuck almost stressing out Taeyong even more. The others join in soon after, Donghyuck and Jungwoo hitting it off quite nicely as they moved along to the beat. Ten has— understandably— joined in on Renjun, Chenle, and sometimes Lucas’s mandarin episodes, much to Johnny’s dismay, (Ten forgot that Johnny learned a little Mandarin from him, so when he told Johnny ‘I love you’ in a misleading tone, he didn’t expect the kiss on the cheek that he received and the ‘I love you, too’ that was replied with utter conviction) but he has learned long before that it was better to not tell Ten what to do.

“This is nice.” Donghyuck hummed as he and Mark swayed along to the slow song currently playing. Mark’s hands were firm at his sides and Donghyuck had his on Mark’s shoulders. They were close enough that their foreheads were pressed against one another and every now and then Mark would brush the tips of their noses together, giving Donghyuck another wave of butterflies that threatened to make his knees buckle.

“You know what would be nicer?” Mark whispered.

The lights were low and it made Donghyuck glow in a way Mark _knew_ his eyes were shooting hearts to the boy in front of him. He couldn’t help it, not when he was completely in love with Donghyuck and every little thing about him.

“What?” Donghyuck asked as he removed his hands from Mark to fix his beanie before placing them back on his shoulders.

Donghyuck is embarrassingly endeared with the fact that Mark is wearing a _beanie_ to prom. It was on-brand for him and Donghyuck loved it to bits.

“Cheeseburgers and milkshakes.”

Donghyuck sighed dreamily. “That _does_ sound amazing.”

He’s mostly forgotten about his earlier craving for fast food, partly because the iced tea that the school was serving was sweet enough for Donghyuck’s taste buds to reboot and forget about searching for something oily; but now that Mark mentioned it, Donghyuck’s mouth watered at the thought of biting into a cheeseburger.

Mark pulls Donghyuck closer, their noses touching again. “Then this last dance then we’ll ditch?”

“Won’t Taeyong have our heads come Monday morning?” Donghyuck jested. He removed his head from against Mark’s and placed his chin on his boyfriend’s shoulder. He smiled when he saw Jaehyun and Taeyong dancing a couple of feet away from where they were. “Nevermind. He doesn’t seem to care anymore.”

Mark starts to hum to the song, arms now completely around Donghyuck as they continued to sway to the melody of the song. Donghyuck sighs into Mark’s shoulder, taking in the peppermint scent of the boy he loves, now mixed with the lemony scent that Donghyuck himself carried.

“There’s only two months until you’re family moves.”

“Yeah.” Mark sighed. “I’ll miss them but...”

“I know.”

“Hyuck,” Mark started. “don’t think that I’m only staying because of you.”

Donghyuck pulled back to look at Mark, a small pout on his lips that Mark was quick to kiss away. Mark kissed his nose next. “You’re not the _only_ reason I stayed. I never wanted to leave in the first place, if you’ve forgotten. But, yes, you really are the best reason out of everything else.”

Donghyuck had been a little concerned that Mark was choosing him over his family, and Mark sensed that. But Donghyuck needed to know that Mark wasn’t choosing either of them, and that Mark’s parents were on board with letting Mark stay even before they knew about Donghyuck. Donghyuck simply gave Mark all the more reason to stay, and his parents even more reason to let him.

“I still can’t believe you managed to sleep in school for two months.” Donghyuck chuckled lowly. He also couldn’t believe that he managed to keep Mark in his room for as long as he did. He suspected that his sister might know about it, or maybe thought that Mark snuck in late at night or Donghyuck snuck out with him. Bless her soul for not snitching, and for that alone, Donghyuck owes her cupcakes until she turns 18.

Mark laughed as well. “Yeah, but being an illegal refugee in your room beats locker room any day.”

“It has to.” Donghyuck huffed. “I give great cuddles!”

“The best.” Mark agreed wholeheartedly.

They don’t stay until after prom, they don’t even stay until Taeyong announced prom king and queen. They waved goodbye to their friends and left school arm-in-arm, debating about the nearest fast-food restaurant that might still be open and within walking distance from their school.

They get cheeseburgers and milkshakes at a nearby fast food restaurant, giggling to themselves when they catch others giving them funny looks. Two boys all dolled up in tuxedos to have an almost-midnight snack wasn’t a usual occurrence, they understood why people were glancing at them weird.

Mark thinks that under the low-budget fluorescent lights of the fast-food restaurant, Donghyuck still glowed in a way that took his breath away. Mark is half-convinced that it was all in his head and that Donghyuck somehow managed to make Mark see him through rose-coloured lenses, but he didn’t mind. He liked that Donghyuck also looked at him through lenses just as rose-coloured.

They take a cab home after that— Donghyuck is sleeping over at Mark’s (Donghyuck’s parents insisted after finding out that the prom stretched until 12 midnight. They refused to risk waking up Yeonhyuck and having her throw another fit about not being able to go to prom with Donghyuck). It’s 1 in the morning when they get home but they’re too awake to sleep. They stay cuddled up in Mark’s bed for hours, whispering between themselves as Mark played with Donghyuck’s fingers.

Donghyuck was wearing one of Mark’s over-sized shirts, face scrubbed clean of make-up and Mark could swear that Donghyuck still looked amazing. He kissed Donghyuck’s fingers as his boyfriend mumbled about something that happened earlier in the night with Jaemin and Jisung.

“Hey, you’re not listening to me.” Donghyuck whined with his eyes already closed.

Mark chuckled and wrapped one of Donghyuck’s arms around his torso, keeping the other on his chest as he shifted to lie on his back. He ruffled Donghyuck’s hair, which the younger took as a sign to lift his head up. Mark slipped his other arm under Donghyuck’s head and let it act as a pillow.

“Go to sleep, Hyuckie. You’re tired.” Mark crooned quietly.

Donghyuck pouted as he snuggled into Mark’s chest. Mark already knew what Donghyuck wanted but he waited until the younger asked for it, just to hear his voice. “Kissie.”

Mark smiled, then leaned down to kiss the top of Donghyuck’s head twice. “Good night. I love you, baby.”

“I love you, too, ghost boy.” Donghyuck yawned.

* * *

The months passed and school ended. The summer has started and in the following year, they were headed to college. Surprisingly, none of them decided to leave the city, so nothing much was going to change with their dynamics aside from going to different universities that were all close to one another, so it wasn’t too big of a difference to them in the end.

The airport is bustling with people as usual. Mark and Donghyuck came with Mark’s family to the airport to see them off. It was almost a week since summer started and it was the day Mark’s family was moving to Canada.

Mark’s aunt was with them too. In her car was all of Mark’s belongings, packed up and ready to be scattered all over his aunt’s apartment, where he’ll be living in from now on. Their house had already been sold and the new family will move in in two weeks.

“I’ll be visiting in a week.” Mark reminded when he saw his mother looking at him with glass eyes.

They were going to take advantage of the summer and Mark and Donghyuck decided to take a vacation to Vancouver. It was a week-long trip, with Chenle, Renjun, Jisung, Lucas, and Jungwoo. The others were unavailable but it was a sizable group as is.

“Stay safe here, got it?” Mark’s dad said as he pulled his son into a hug. “Call us whenever you can.”

“I will.” Mark said and let his dad pat his head through his knitted beanie.

Mark’s mom was still close to tears and Mark smiled at her reassuringly.

“Oh, baby, I’ll miss you.” Mark’s mother cooed as she pulled her youngest in for a tight hug. She knew that he was old enough to handle himself, and her sister was going to take good care of him, but she was going to miss Mark dearly. She almost regretted suggesting that Mark live with her at all, but she knows that nothing will keep Mark from Seoul, especially now that he has Donghyuck.

Mark hugged back just as tightly, chuckling. “I’ll be fine, mom.”

“I know.” she answered. “But it wouldn’t be the same without you messing up the house with your brothers.”

“Hey!” the eldest protested. “We’re well behaved!”

Mark laughed along with his mother whilst they pulled away. He exchanged hugs with the rest of his family, even let his second brother keep him in a headlock during his five-minute long goodbye speech that ended with ‘I’m glad I’ll be the youngest again. I never asked for you, you know?’

As Mark was horse-playing with his brothers for the last time until they see each other next in a few days, Mark’s parents turn to Donghyuck, who was watching the exchange next to Mark’s aunt with amused and fond eyes.

Donghyuck and Mark’s aunt met a week ago, when Mark’s parents invited Donghyuck to dinner out and Mark’s aunt was also there. It was to talk about Mark’s living situation, and Mark’s aunt was quick to show how excited she was to have someone in the apartment with her. She was younger than Mark’s mom by almost a decade and a half, so she was still somewhere in her middle 30’s. She acted more like an older sister to her nephews than an aunt, so Mark was just as excited to live with her.

“Donghyuck.” Mark’s mother whispered as she opened her arms for him to walk into. Donghyuck obliged and approached her, smiling when she wraps him in a tight hug. Next to Mark’s second brother, Donghyuck had also become close with Mark’s mother, who seemed to already think of him as her own son. It warmed Donghyuck’s heart to know that his boyfriend’s mother thought him of such.

He’s gotten relatively friendly with Mark’s family over the remaining weeks they had in Seoul. He’s gotten along with Mark’s second brother the most out of Mark’s family (they both liked to torment Mark) and Donghyuck was tearing up himself seeing that the family was ready to fly out to another continent. He couldn’t imagine how Mark is feeling right now.

“Take care of him for us.” Mark’s mother said as Donghyuck was embraced by her husband. Mark was next to her now, having already escaped his brother’s death grip.

Donghyuck gets a pat on the back before Mark’s father lets go of him, the taller man smiling at him kindly. Donghyuck smiled back. “I’ll do my best.”

“You’re going to do great, don’t worry.” Mark said whilst he threw an arm over Donghyuck’s shoulders. Donghyuck automatically leaned into his boyfriend’s touch, his closer hand holding the hand hanging off his shoulder and squeezing it comfortingly. Mark kissed Donghyuck’s temple in appreciation for the gesture.

Their plane is called and it’s time for Mark’s family to go. With a last exchange of hugs and farewells, Mark waves his family goodbye.

“You’re crying.” Donghyuck noted once Mark’s family was out of view.

Mark sniffled and used his free hand to wipe his eyes. He denies it half-heartedly. “I’m not.”

Donghyuck grinned and wrapped Mark in a bear hug, tilting them side-to-side as he spoke. “You miss them already, don’t you?”

“A little.” Mark chuckled as he and Donghyuck rocked back and forth. Mark’s aunt was watching them fondly several steps away. “We’ll see them in a few days, though.”

“That doesn’t matter.” Donghyuck chortled. “You’re your family’s baby, of course you’ll miss them.”

It was funny to Donghyuck, how Mark was the youngest child and Donghyuck was the older sibling, yet Donghyuck was the immature one between them. He liked to think that it was exactly because of where they stood in their family trees that Mark liked being the more responsible one between the two of them. Donghyuck craved how Mark babied him and Mark had no problem coddling Donghyuck. It worked for them.

“You’re my baby, though.” Mark sulked and buried Donghyuck’s face in his shoulder.

“Kids, we have to go.” Mark’s aunt cut through their moment with an apologetic yet kind smile. She was one of Mark’s closer relatives, so there was no need to try to get comfortable with her. “Mark still has to unpack his things.”

“You’re helping me, right?” Mark asked when Donghyuck tried to step away from the hug.

Donghyuck nodded, feigning offence. “What made you think I wasn’t?”

Mark’s aunt laughed as she led the way out of the airport. “I’ll also call Donghyuck’s parents and ask if he can stay over for the night. Knowing you two boys, you’d spend hours at a time with breaks.”

Donghyuck and Mark didn’t bother to argue. It’s not like she was lying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's a wrap!!! Aww, I'm going to miss this story ㅠㅠ I had tons of fun writing this, and I hope that you enjoyed reading it!! Thank you so so much for getting this far, it means a lot!
> 
> Tell me your thoughts on it down in the comments or on my [curious cat](https://curiouscat.qa/water_lili_es) or visit my [twitter](https://twitter.com/markeu_tuan93) for more stories!! *^^* you can also find me on [wattpad](https://www.wattpad.com/user/GirlDreamcatcher1123) and [youtube](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGfueuIgLVf0o1FNOllA18g)!!! Thank you so so much once again!!! <333


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